Beijing visa registrations soar in recent months

The number of people dealing with visa registrations in Beijing has been soaring in recent months, the municipal exit and entry administration said on Monday.

A woman talks with an officer at the Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau on Sept 24, 2012. [Jiang Dong/China Daily]

From Sept 1 to Sept 22, officers in the administration handled 21,771 visas, a 7 percent rise year-on-year, according to a statement provided by the authority.

"Since the end of August, many foreign students have come back to the capital to begin their new semester, which is why the number of visa transactions went up so rapidly," said a senior officer in the administration, who declined to give his name.

The administration is capable of dealing with more than 1,500 visas - especially for foreign students - every day, reaching a maximum of 1,900, the statement said.

Currently more than 40,000 foreign students are studying in the city. The administration has received 121,972 applications involving visas since January, the statement added.

"We've devoted more officers to the work and increased the number of transaction windows from 12 to 15, aiming to save residents time and keep the operation smooth," the officer said.

The administration also has dispatched some officers to answer residents' questions about visas in the transaction hall. "We want to make sure every applicant can get his or her visa within five days," he said, adding that the transaction peak will continue until the middle of October.