Getting through the Exit-Entry Bureau: Applying for your residence permit

💬 Add 了吗 to an action to ask whether it's been done: 吃了吗？ "have you eaten?", 填了吗？ "have you filled it in?".

💬 The thing being talked about comes first, then the action: "your form, brought it?". Chinese often puts the topic up front like this in everyday questions.

💬 To answer yes, you simply repeat the verb from the question. 带了吗？ gets 带了, and 有吗？ gets 有, with no need for a word for "yes".

💬 这儿 (zhèr) ends in the northern "r" sound. In southern China you'll often hear 这里 (zhè lǐ) with the same meaning.

🇨🇳 Visa photos have strict rules, usually a white background and a specific size. Many bureaus have a photo booth or a shop nearby, and some prefer you take the photo on site.

💬 Flat objects like photos, forms and tickets are counted with 张 (zhāng): 一张表 "a form", 两张票 "two tickets". 还要 (hái yào) at the start adds "also need".

💬 Chinese has no single word for "yes". You answer by repeating the verb of the question, so 有吗? gets 有 and the "no" answer is 没有 (méi yǒu).

💬 Putting 一下 (yí xià) after an action makes a request sound lighter and more polite, like "just quickly": 看一下 "take a quick look", 等一下 "wait a moment". Note that 一 is said (yí) here because a falling tone follows.

💬 Between 这 and the noun you need a counting word: 这张表, not 这表. For people or general things it's 个, as in 这个人 "this person".

💬 Add 好了 after an action to say it's finished and done properly: 写好了 "finished writing", 准备好了 "ready".

🇨🇳 When you hand over papers at a counter, Chinese people often hold them out with both hands. It's a small gesture of respect that officials notice.

💬 以后 (yǐ hòu) comes after the time, the reverse of English: 三天以后 "after three days", 下班以后 "after work".

💬 来 before another action means "come to do it": 来拿 "come and get it", 来看 "come and see".

🇨🇳 Working days skip weekends and public holidays, so applying just before Chinese New Year or National Day can stretch the wait by a week or more. Keep the receipt you're given, because you'll need it to collect your passport.

💬 不 stays (bù) here because 客 is a falling tone, so it's actually (bú kè qi).