The British embassy in Beijing has promised to look into whether there has been any improper conduct involving staff at its outsourced visa processing center, according to prominent scholar Yu Jianrong.
Yu, who had been invited to an academic conference in the UK, was outraged when staff from VFS-Global, which processes visa applications for a number of nations in China, asked him for his hukou (household registration) in addition to other documents.
He has now been issued with a UK visa without having to show his hukou, he told the Global Times Wednesday.
"I went to a meeting at the British embassy with Matt Heath from the UK Border Agency and [embassy] first secretary Meng Jiasi Monday afternoon," said Yu.
"They explained to me repeatedly that the hukou is only one of several suggested supporting forms of documentation, and promised they would investigate into the [alleged] improper conduct of the visa application center staff," he said.
Yu said he submitted his application materials directly to the visa section, instead of through the VFS-Global center later on Monday.
Ren Donghua, media officer from the British embassy, confirmed Wednesday the meeting took place, but declined to give any detailed information.
An operator from VFS-Global said that the list of visa supporting documents on their website is only for reference.
"Applicants can choose materials from the list and add documents according to their own situations. The hukou is not mandatory," she said.
The British embassy in China posted an explanation of its position on hukou on its official Sina microblog Monday.
"The UK Border Agency suggests Chinese applicants provide a hukou when applying for a UK visa. The information provided by a hukou can make the visa application and assessment process faster and smoother… a hukou provides information other documents cannot provide. According to our existing visa policy, 96 percent of Chinese applicants successfully get a UK visa," the microblog post read.
But the British embassy media officer declined to explain what the information is they consider so important and unique on a hukou document.
As a prominent rural affairs scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Yu said the hukou system discriminates against a wide section of the Chinese population, especially those from rural areas, so he refused to show his hukou when VFS-Global staff asked for it. He also alleged a visa center employee offered to help him out one the quiet.
Zhao Hua, who works at Huayang International Business Travel which helps its customers to apply for visas, said they require customers to provide their hukou if they want to go to Western countries.
"It's because a hukou contains a person's family and migration information. Without a hukou, it's very likely that you will be denied if you want to apply for a visa from the US, UK or the Schengen countries in Europe," Zhao said.