Overseas surgery leads to immigration problems at home

A group of Chinese women who travelled overseas to have cosmetic surgery had a run-in with immigration officials upon returning to China.

The women, aged between 36 and 54, had undergone surgery on their eyes, noses, and chins and looked completely different than the photos in their Chinese passports.

Shanghai Hongqiao Airport officer Chen Tao said: “After they took off their huge hats and big sunglasses following our request, we saw them looking different, with bandages and stitches here and there.”

He added that he and his colleagues had to inspect their ‘uncorrected parts’ very carefully against their passport photos.

The women were advised to renew their passports with updated pictures immediately.

The popularity of so-called ‘medical tourism’ has been rising in recent years as busy professionals and those wanting to avoid social scrutiny apply for travel visas to South America and Asia to take advantage of more affordable procedures there.