Consulates under diplomatic pressure? Bureaucratic resistance and relational discretion in visa issuance in China
This study examines the intricate dynamics of visa policy implementation, focusing on the conflicting imperatives of promoting tourism and ensuring border security. Through ethnographic immersion within a visa service abroad and interviews with consular and diplomatic staff, the research reveals the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Political Research Exchange |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2025.2546328 |
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| _version_ | 1849229036108120064 |
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| author | Juliette Dupont |
| author_facet | Juliette Dupont |
| author_sort | Juliette Dupont |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study examines the intricate dynamics of visa policy implementation, focusing on the conflicting imperatives of promoting tourism and ensuring border security. Through ethnographic immersion within a visa service abroad and interviews with consular and diplomatic staff, the research reveals the struggles between competing street-level actors. The article argues that visa officers exercising discretion are embedded within a web of relationships that include both rival and allied actors. These officers leverage their bureaucratic autonomy to resist an attractiveness policy they perceive as inconsistent with the primary function of the visa, while relying on the immigration liaison officer to reinforce a policing approach of border control. By highlighting the relational and interdependent nature of visa policy, the findings contribute to a broader understanding of the openness versus closure dilemma faced by immigration frontline workers. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a9c8563e098942caae15674edf80d963 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2474-736X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Political Research Exchange |
| spelling | doaj-art-a9c8563e098942caae15674edf80d9632025-08-22T08:55:14ZengTaylor & Francis GroupPolitical Research Exchange2474-736X2025-12-017110.1080/2474736X.2025.2546328Consulates under diplomatic pressure? Bureaucratic resistance and relational discretion in visa issuance in ChinaJuliette Dupont0Institute for European Studies, UCLouvain, Brussels, BelgiumThis study examines the intricate dynamics of visa policy implementation, focusing on the conflicting imperatives of promoting tourism and ensuring border security. Through ethnographic immersion within a visa service abroad and interviews with consular and diplomatic staff, the research reveals the struggles between competing street-level actors. The article argues that visa officers exercising discretion are embedded within a web of relationships that include both rival and allied actors. These officers leverage their bureaucratic autonomy to resist an attractiveness policy they perceive as inconsistent with the primary function of the visa, while relying on the immigration liaison officer to reinforce a policing approach of border control. By highlighting the relational and interdependent nature of visa policy, the findings contribute to a broader understanding of the openness versus closure dilemma faced by immigration frontline workers.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2025.2546328Visa policyrelational approachdiscretionborder controlinstitutional fragmentation |
| spellingShingle | Juliette Dupont Consulates under diplomatic pressure? Bureaucratic resistance and relational discretion in visa issuance in China Political Research Exchange Visa policy relational approach discretion border control institutional fragmentation |
| title | Consulates under diplomatic pressure? Bureaucratic resistance and relational discretion in visa issuance in China |
| title_full | Consulates under diplomatic pressure? Bureaucratic resistance and relational discretion in visa issuance in China |
| title_fullStr | Consulates under diplomatic pressure? Bureaucratic resistance and relational discretion in visa issuance in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Consulates under diplomatic pressure? Bureaucratic resistance and relational discretion in visa issuance in China |
| title_short | Consulates under diplomatic pressure? Bureaucratic resistance and relational discretion in visa issuance in China |
| title_sort | consulates under diplomatic pressure bureaucratic resistance and relational discretion in visa issuance in china |
| topic | Visa policy relational approach discretion border control institutional fragmentation |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2025.2546328 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT juliettedupont consulatesunderdiplomaticpressurebureaucraticresistanceandrelationaldiscretioninvisaissuanceinchina |