Focus

Temporary residence permits boon for agents

By Wang Wen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-17 10:40

People acting as agents to secure temporary residence permits for others are charging more than 100 yuan for the permit, which is available free from the local government.

"I can help you apply for a temporary residence permit for the annual driving license renewal," said a woman surnamed Liu, who posted an advertisement on the Internet.

Liu said that since 2008 people taking a driving test or the annual driving license check in the city without a Beijing hukou needed to obtain a temporary residence permit. As a result of this many people began to act as agents for people who did not have time to apply for the permit by themselves or did not live in Beijing at that time.

She said her fee for the permit is relatively high as she charges 200 yuan.

"My main business is agent for the annual renewal and I need to find others to act as agents for the temporary residence permit," Liu said.

She suggested that drivers should go to apply for the permit by themselves because the process is easy and only requires a house rental contract to show they live in the city.

Some driving schools also said they can help their trainees to apply for the permit.

"We can help trainees in our school apply for the permit for free," said a staff employee surnamed Guan with the Changjian Driving School in Chaoyang district.

Guan said the charge for the temporary residence permit is included in their enrollment fees and is totally legal but the permit can only be used for the driving test.

The Beijing Oriental Fashion Automobile Driving School also states that it can apply for the permit for trainees. It charges 20 yuan for express fees.

An officer with the Beijing Municipal Police Security Bureau told the Beijing News that the temporary residence permit is verification of a legal identity for non-local people who live in Beijing temporarily. It is free to apply for but there is no law against agents applying on behalf of others.

Seven individuals acting as agents solicited for custom in the traffic police station in Tongzhou district and were charging 150 yuan for one temporary residence permit, the Beijing News reported on Wednesday.

However, many non-local people living in Beijing do not care about the temporary residence permit.

Jiang Qi, a man in his 40s who came to Beijing about 10 years ago, said he had only applied for a temporary residence permit once during the those 10 years.

Jiang said he established a company in 2008 and he needed an identity in the city, so he applied for a permit then. The permit was only for one year, and he never renewed it.