re: #34 wheat-dogg, raker of forests, master of steam

I applied for a new passport at the embassy in Beijing on Dec. 7. The new one arrived today! I’m amazed. Anyway, I will nip into Beijing tomorrow to pick it up. There’s no waiting. I just show my passport and the payment receipt for the new one, and they wave me in.

What awaits me is more complex. I have to have my working papers and residence permit amended to reflect the new passport number and expiry. Not looking forward to that, because it takes two or three trips to various government offices to make it happen. And they could decide at any point to not renew anything, and I’d need to leave China — again — in a jiffy.

So, cross your fingers and all that.

Last time I needed a new passport, about a year ago, it took the embassy in Tokyo exactly one week. Nice and quick. And no visit to the embassy. It was done by good old Japan Post. (The embassy here does not want anyone to actually visit it. Been that way since 9/11.)