Reality Check: Don’t Get Stranded Abroad This Summer

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I get it, we all do. Part of the lure of expat life is you get to travel on vacations to locations much closer to your host than your home country. And minus a trip or two to Sanya or Tianjin, we’ve all been huddled in our respective Beijing corners for over a year. As fun as a good outing to The Forbidden City or Beihai Park can be, it’s nothing compared to jumping on a plane and getting a look at a whole new locale, then returning to Beijing ready to embrace the capital city once again.

And surely with restrictions getting more lax and Covid testing getting even faster, it should be easy to take a quick jaunt back home and return to Beijing in time for the new school year.

Right?

However, there is no guarantee and honestly, I’m concerned for all the people I see in WeChat groups who are asking about it. Last summer I started a WeChat group for Stranded Spouses (a group for people with valid work visas and their dependents who were waiting to return), because they had one WeChat group to get upfront information but needed another to vent and let loose for emotional outbursts. My group was for the latter. It still is, I should say, because there are still spouses, children, and other family members who have been living apart for over a year, and cannot return to China even if their working spouses were able to do so.

So trust me when I say that these families have tried everything to be able to get back into China, to reunite their children with one or both of their parents. It is emotionally tearing them apart, and many live in a constant state of limbo, unsure how to move on with their parallel lives separated by half a world, or at least a continent.

That is why, when someone posts in a group asking about the quarantine conditions in August because they want to pop back to the states, even for extremely valid reasons such as funerals or weddings, my neck muscles tighten.

Now, to be clear, I am not here to judge anyone for any choice they need to make for their family. Nothing about this situation is cut and dry, and we all make our own choices. I just want anyone taking this risk to understand that it is risky, that it’s possible they will not be able to return or will get separated from any family still in China. In addition, we’ve seen people who had all their boxes checked and had gone through every hoop (valid residence permits, work visas, vaccinated, even pre-approval for one leg of the trip), but the vaccinated parents were approved to return to China and the unvaccinated children were not. They did not know this until they were already back in their home country.

A few disclaimers to continue to keep in mind:

• The known facts below are subject to change at any time.

• In cases where a vaccination helps your chances, most children are not vaccinated yet and so may not be approved to return, as described by the recent case above.

• For every exception, there could be an equal and opposite non-exception. If you can take the chance, and your reason for return is worth the chance, that’s your decision. But please understand that just because the process worked for one person, for one family, it may not work for yours.

• Most of the information we have right now was gathered for people trying to return to China since Covid-19 began in early 2020. For people who are currently in China and opt to leave, then try to return, the circumstances may be different, either more or less difficult. But it’s still always a chance.

• Did I mention that the known factors are subject to change at any time?

I know that everyone wants details. I can’t possibly get into all of the countries, so I’ll focus on North America, via information received by people who keep their ears close to the ground on this topic. For information on other countries, send us a message in the comments or via WeChat.

Canada

From Diana, the Admin of Canadians Trying to Get to China Group:

Overall, I think temporarily leaving China right now is incredibly risky, since policies continuously change, and twice in the past year many people been locked out of China when policies changed suddenly. If you absolutely must return to Canada temporarily, then do make sure you have received both doses of the Chinese vaccine before you leave, take all your necessary documents and sentimental objects with you and be prepared for the possibility that you might be stuck in Canada much longer than anticipated.

More details, with sources:

I am the admin for a WeChat group that helps Canadians get back to China. We have some members that left in Jan 2020 for what they thought was a short trip who have still not been able to get back. We also had some members who came back to Canada recently for emergencies, expecting to be able to use their residence permits to reenter shortly after as long as they quarantined, who became trapped in Canada on Jan 30, 2021. Unfortunately, as of Jan 30, 2021, the Chinese Embassy in Canada states, “all foreign nationals who hold valid Chinese residence permits for work, personal matters and reunion are temporarily not allowed to enter China from Canada”. While the notice does state that those needing to return for essential economic, trade, scientific or technological activities or out of emergency humanitarian needs may contact the visa centre and apply for a new visa, a new visa is certainly not guaranteed and can be a very long process. Furthermore, without both doses of the Chinese vaccine, applying for a new visa will require a PU letter. As of Mar 17, 2021, the Chinese Embassy in Canada put out a statement Foreign nationals and their family members who have received both doses of the Chinese vaccine “visiting mainland of China for resuming work and production in various fields can prepare the application according to the requirement before the COVID-19 pandemic,” which we assume means without a PU letter. So if you absolutely must leave, then be sure to get both doses of the Chinese vaccine before you do to facilitate the visa application. If you do leave, be prepared for at least two weeks of quarantine each way. Canada currently requires mandatory three day hotel quarantine, regardless of vaccination status, and preflight pcr testing. This costs between $1,000-$1,500 for three days in a hotel followed by the remaining days of the two week quarantine at home where they check in on you and perform another covid test. You will then require antibody tests and pcr tests to apply for a green health code to get approval to return to China. Again, this green health code is not guaranteed and requires you to justify the necessity of your return. Lastly, if you succeed in flying to China, China also has mandatory minimum two week quarantine and testing, regardless of vaccination status. However, unfortunately the Chinese vaccine is not yet approved for minors.

To join the Canadians Trying to Get to China group, please add WeChat IDs: thedid17, Maianarisa, SilverKlajnescek, and Altinium and note the city you are currently in.

United States

The United States is very complicated and honestly changes as often as WeChat issues a new update.

The chart below was created by the Americans Stranded group to assist people returning and was last updated on Apr 19, 2021. Remember that even if the chart claims that you should be good to get to a certain step in the process, it may change.

Add “Crystyl Mo” on Facebook AND message her to request joining the Americans Stranded group.

For every country out there, there is a slightly different procedure that can change at any moment.

As you need to make difficult decisions for your family, please do keep in touch with the most up-to-date information we already have, and understand that the situation continues to be fluid. As much as we’d love to be “back to normal,” the choices we have for returning to China if we need to leave are never cut and dry. Even armed with a pre-approval to travel doesn’t mean you are immune to the latest news of the day, which can in turn change who gets to fly.

Images: courtesy of the Americans Stranded WeChat group, Canva

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