i am a singaporean staying temporarily in shanghai at the moment.

Question

I am a Singaporean staying temporarily in Shanghai at the moment. I need to travel to Hong Kong later this month (Dec 09) and back to Shanghai in about a week (Jan 2010).Trouble is, my Singapore passport now has less than 6 months' of validity (expire in May 2010)... which I intend to renew come Feb 2010 when I return to Singapore.How will this affect my travel plans in December & January next year between Shanghai and Hong Kong? And what can I do to ensure there are no problems with the immigration departments at both Shanghai and Hong Kong airports?

Ms.Betty · Answer

I think that you will face some problems because your passport is valid for less than 6 months. As I know, we Singaporeans don't need a visa to Mainland China for 15 days and Hong Kong for 90 days. You can have a try, now, there is no other option, even though you renew your passport at Consulate General of Sinagpore in Shanghai, you don't have time to get your new pasport.

Mr.A Yeo · Answer

Hi Betty, thanks for taking the trouble to reply. I've called the Chinese authorities in SH and they're simply hopeless. Not only do they have answer machines that transfer your calls to Neverland, once I do get an officer at the other end, they advise that they don't handle my issue and gave me another number! I tried this other number with several more answering machines to transfer my call, eventually ending up with the FIRST number!!! They even have my calls hung up everytime I transfer my line to boot... and for the icing on that cake, have the audacity to say that they TRY to give the BEST SERVICES possible (via the automated message!).Giving up, I called the Singapore Consulate... and after a single transfer for language selection, came a real officer who said I can apply online for my new passport. All I need is my credit card(S$70 after S$10 rebate), a jpeg of my passport photo(which was a little cumbersome given the size & resolution restrictions, but other than that... a savings on an actual photo), and filling in forms online. Period.I should be getting my new passport in 2 weeks, with a week's time to buffer before my trip to Hong Kong. So, problem solved!In conclusion?? Hooray for Singapore Productivity!!! By George... Singaporean Efficiency Truly is GREAT!

Ms.Betty · Answer

Congratulations! I fell happy for you. Thanks for giving me the feedback about renew passport in China.

Mr.Ng · Answer

Mr Yeo,Your worries were unfounded.Mine expires in Jan-2010, and I was just in HK and ShenZhen last couple of weeks.HK immigrations will have no problem, since you're only allowed 90 stays stay.  The custom officers there keep telling me they can't extend me 90 days stay permit, but only up to my expiration date.China immigrations also didn't bother, cause we are only allowed 15 days.  In and out without issue.

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