Too old for Beijing

The master's students in a psychology class at a prestigious Beijing university had already begun mapping out their future careers. Some would become civil servants, while another wanted to be a school counselor, with a nice little apartment a few years after graduation, and a child who goes to the best public school in the city.

However, many of these dreams were shattered in early May by a piece of "instructive advice" given by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, which laid out age limits for students from outside Beijing who wish to obtain a Beijing hukou, or household registration - a key piece of paperwork for living and accessing services locally.

"My classmates are worried and scared they won't be able to stay in Beijing," said a student surnamed Dong, a member of the psychology class who comes from Tianjin. She declined to disclose the name of her university to the Global Times.

According to a People's Daily report, the announcement was "verbally made to Beijing State-owned enterprises," and said that non-Beijing native university graduates who want to get a local hukou cannot be older than 24, postgraduates cannot be older than 27 and PhD graduates not older than 35.

An online advertisement posted by an agent who claims to be able to help university graduates from outside Beijing to obtain a hukou states, "If you are under the age limit, it will cost 220,000 yuan ($35,772); but if you have passed the limit, you need an additional 40,000 yuan for our efforts to solve the age problem for you."

The age limit announcement represents another strict measure to control Beijing's booming migrant population, which is straining the city's water and land resources, experts say. However, a Beijing hukou is vital for those who plan to live in the city, as it enables them to access social services such as education at public schools.

"The hukou and its related policies have broken my heart," said Zhang Xin, a Peking University master's student from outside Beijing, who was quoted by The Economic Observer. He will exceed the age limit by one year when he graduates in June.

Age anxiety

Dong told the Global Times that many of her classmates have already exceeded the limits. "Many students work for a few years before they return to university to get a master's degree, and many take the annual entrance examination multiple times before they are accepted," Dong said. "So it's easy to exceed the age limits."

Dong will be exactly 27 years old when she graduates. She said she is lucky not to be "a victim of the unfair government policy."

Zhang, with the help of several of his classmates who share the same hukou problem, launched a chat group on Tencent's QQ chatting service. The group has a few hundred members who are anxious about the advice, The Economic Observer reported

The group members have talked with career officers at universities, called the Beijing human resources and social security bureau multiple times, and written letters to the head of the bureau. No response has been forthcoming.