I managed to fill one sarppost in just two years: the reason being that I spent my first nine months in China on F (business) visas. For some reason, my company decided that my visa should be renewed every month rather than letting me fly to Hong Kong for the weekend to get a new entry/exit stamp. Then when I finally applied for a Z (residency) visa, I needed to fly out of China, get a special temporary Z visa from the Chinese embassy allowing me to re-enter China for the purpose of getting my formal Z visa.This also meant I was able to do very little travelling, since my sarppost was constantly at an embassy having a visa renewed. Whenever I finally did go anywhere, the poor immigration officer would get extremely confused trying to work out which visa was actually valid.But the process kept an awful lot of people employed.

Yes James, I had mine replaced in 2003 for the same rsoean. It still had around 5 years left but there were no pages left. I opted for a 48 page one instead of the standard 36 page passport, so my visa pages look as barren as the Sahara in winter (or come to think of it, any of the other 3 seasons). I also cover my passport with a blue 3 lions leather Smythson cover which was a bargain at 67 pounds.