Visa Trouble

When you move to China you are required by law to let the authorities know where you live at all times,  even when you are travelling every hotel is required to fill out a temporary residence form and file it with the government.  Cynthia took all of our paperwork to the local police station along with our Driver - Mr. Dong to file our new address according to this rule only to find out that her and Mason's visas had expired.  Now this is not a good thing.  The fine for overstaying your visa is 500 RMB per day.  We were 6 days over the limit and therefore 3,000 RMB in debt to China.  Needless to say, all this is taking place as I am travelling.  After lots of phone calls to our HR person in the US, the Immigration Services company in Shanghai and lots of negotiating - yes, even this is negotiable in China - we were able to get everything straightened out. (I think)  The final step is to make sure Cynthia and Mason's names are not black listed with Chinese customs so that they don't show up as "visa scofflaws" when travelling back to China.  The moral of this story is:  ALWAYS know your visa status and DO NOT overstay beyond the indicated period.  We won't be letting that happen again.

Mason is busy with Fudan University and has his first Chinese test today.  He has also been keeping busy with writing Thank You cards for graduation as well as completing his college application for the University of Chicago.  Would appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers for him as he is quite anxious about many of these new experiences here in China and was especially affected by this whole visa ordeal. 

I am at our factory in Qingdao today and we have the Pentair Board of Directors visiting. It has been weeks of daily work on our slide presentations and I will be really happy when this is over.  Enjoy your day today and be glad you don't have to register your every location with the US government - yet.