David on Formosa

The Mandarin Project, a blog by a German student at Shi-Da, writes about the difficulties of applying for a resident visa at BOCA (Bureau of Consular Affairs; 外交部). The difficulties faced by one of his Indonesian classmates really make for sad reading. The details of the conduct of the BOCA officers suggests a complete lack of professionalism and perhaps, dare I say it, institutionalised racism.

And believe me, those poeple at BOCA will try anything to give you a hard time and make it difficult for you to get this VISA. You are Westerner? Oh good luck for you! Makes it a whole lot easier! Still you will be treated unfriendly, but at least you will get your VISA without much trouble. In my case that was different, but I will come to that later. You come from South East Asia, let's say Indonesia, Vietnam or the Phillipines? REALLY bad luck, most likely you will be treated like a criminal, called in for face-to-face interrogations, ridiculed and laughed at. And it is really as bad as it sounds.

I suggest you read the entire post: At your service…