Youssef Souei, a Tunisian student studying at Zhejiang Gongshang University, still remembers his first arrival in Hangzhou in 2013. “After entering China, international students like me must register for temporary accommodation within 24 hours according to law. At that time, I was very poor at Chinese. Thanks to my teacher who took me to the office and police station several times, I finally completed the registration. I felt dizzy for the whole time.”

Today, standing by the self-service kiosk and clicking on the screen, Youssef completed the registration form for international students in less than 5 minutes. “Every time I registered for accommodation due to changes in the apartment, I had to spend an hour on the road. After arriving at the office, I had to line up. It took a whole afternoon, and I had to ask for leave every time I registered for accommodation, which is very inconvenient.”

What surprises Youssef Souei, is a “waiter” who couldn’t speak

On November 26, the “Overseas Personnel Service Station” in Qiantang New District was officially launched in Langqin Community, Baiyang Street. At the same time, the country’s first self-service machine for registration and declaration of overseas personnel was put into use. Thanks to the help of this self-service machine, Youssef Souei completed the registration in just five minutes. “The process is very simple. I simply need to scan my passport, without any requirement for filling in personal information. Moreover, the operation of the machine is bilingual in Chinese and English, which is very convenient for us. We just need to check the information.” The accommodation registration receipt is generated immediately after the registraation is completed, and the applicant can receive feedback in real time.

At present, the “Overseas Personnel Service Station” has formally provided external services. Overseas residents and enterprises in the area can go to Room 101, Building 3, No. 60 Landshi International Block, No. 27 Baiyang Street, Qiantang New District.

Executive Editor: Xu Bei

Translation: Xu Bei, Chen Wenjing