Paperwork and Red Tape part 2
It wasn't until everything was done, and the X-visa was in Myles' passport, that we were able to sort through what was required by the school/education bueaou and what was required by the Entry-Exit Bureau, the government body that issues visas. While we were deep in the process, we were drowning in forms and photocopies. For instance, the admissions office at Shiyou told us we needed to get Myles' birth certificate notarized by the US Embassy. This was because student visa would need to be issued before his resident dependent visa expired nine days before his 18th birthday. The school would be in loco parentis (in Chinese 代替父母 Dàitì fùmǔ ) for that week. They assured me it was a simple process and the embassy would know what to do. We told the school that we had a work around for 代替父母, that we could apply for a 30-day extension and then apply for the X-visa after Myles turned 18. The people at the school insisted that it was better not to delay the student visa, so we foll...
