Provide convenient services for the people. We are working hard - thoughts caused by passport renewal (picture)

Provide convenient services for the people. We are working hard - thoughts caused by passport replacement (picture) (Reported by Sunbird Asia Chinese Network) April 7-8, 2012, Los Angeles...

(Reported by Sunbird Asia Chinese Network) On April 7th and 8th, 2012, staff from the Documentation Section of the Los Angeles Consulate went to the Chinese Cultural Center in Tucson, Arizona to renew and reissue Chinese passports to Chinese citizens in the United States. As of around 11 a.m. on April 8, more than 100 families had been provided with services.

At 9:10 a.m. on April 8, our reporter drove for nearly two hours to arrive at the license renewal site for an interview. Enter the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center. The venue for passport replacement is spacious, comfortable and orderly. The requirements for passport replacement are posted in a conspicuous position in the hall. Two staff members are at the door to take numbers for Chinese citizens who come to apply for passports. The reporter saw that the people who came to apply for the certificate could successfully complete the application in ten minutes. The total cost is $60 per book, with no additional service fees.

>Passport Number Replacement Office

The reporter learned at the outskirts of the visa application area that while the local Chinese people thanked the Consulate General for providing them with convenience, they also had the following questions and dissatisfaction.

First, is it reasonable to choose only Tucson as the certification point and cancel Phoenix (for the past twenty years, it has been handled locally in Phoenix)?

The reporter interviewed an uncle who came to renew his license. The uncle said that he came from Phoenix. He set off from home at 6:30 in the morning and arrived at the license application location at 8:30. He was accompanied by his wife, grandson and granddaughter. The reporter was curious, why did you bring your grandson and granddaughter? The uncle said that his children were very busy, so they had no choice but to drive there by themselves, but the road was too far and they were not familiar with it. They were afraid that the road in English would not be clear, so he specially brought his grandson and granddaughter to guide him. Another friend who came from Phoenix said that it was just a long way away. In previous years, it could be done in Phoenix. I don’t know why it can’t be done in Phoenix this year. When a reporter asked him whether he met more people from Phoenix or from Tucson, he said he met more people from Phoenix. Lei Hong, the local person in charge of Tucson and the principal of Tucson Chinese School, said that the Consulate General also consulted him on many details about the issue of certificate renewal in Tucson from Phoenix, such as how to get to Tucson, how long it takes, whether advertisements for certificate renewal are published in Phoenix, whether the Tucson certificate renewal location is easy for visitors to find, etc. On the afternoon of the 8th, in order to allow citizens coming from Phoenix to go back early, they also arranged special treatment such as priority processing in Phoenix. However, the reporter learned from most of the people who came to apply for the certificate that they felt that the journey was still a long way.

According to the 2010 census, Phoenix accounts for 90% of Arizona's Chinese population. Since the vast majority of Chinese people live in the Phoenix area, in the past, the application process was done at the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix and Tucson. But this year it is only available in Tucson. Is it the best choice for 90% of people to drive four hours back and forth to come to Tucson to renew their certificate?

Second, the certificate processing staff of the Consulate General refused to be interviewed, and reporters were unable to enter the certificate application site.

When the reporter approached Lei Hong, the local person in charge of the passport renewal, the principal of Tucson Chinese School, and wanted to discuss whether he would consider renewing his passport in Phoenix, and interviewed the consul who came to apply for the passport, Principal Lei said that it was inconvenient for the consuls to contact the media.

Third, many heads of overseas Chinese groups in the Phoenix area have contacted the Consulate General, hoping that they can come to Phoenix for processing, but so far they have not received a clear answer on whether they will continue to come.

According to the reporter’s understanding, the Senior Citizen Center in Phoenix and the Phoenix branch of the Chinese Association of Scientists and Engineers (Science and Engineering Professionals) have both contacted the visa team of the consulate, hoping that the document team can provide passport replacement services for local Chinese in Phoenix as in previous years. Due to last year’s “Hualian incident” and the subsequent “passport replacement incident” (please click on the link for details). Sources say that the Consulate General hopes that it would be best if "Hualien" and "Hua Zong" can sit together and work together to handle this matter. We can’t help but ask: If they had not united to do this, would the Consulate General no longer serve us Chinese in Phoenix? Are ordinary volunteers or other organizations not qualified to serve the community and do this well?

The Consulate General still has a wait-and-see attitude towards coming to Phoenix to renew a passport this year.

Protecting the interests of overseas Chinese and effectively serving the Chinese, isn’t it our common goal? Over the past two decades, the Consulate General in Los Angeles has done a great job in providing convenience for passport renewal in Phoenix, and we are now working hard to maintain this tradition. (over)

Protecting the rights of the Chinese is something that each of us should strive for on our own. If you have any other comments or suggestions from the Chinese community regarding passport renewal, please click here: http://bbs.sunbirdarizona.com/viewthread.php?tid=2304&extra=page%3D1