<p>"<strong>申请</strong>护照" means "<strong>to apply for</strong> a passport" It describes the action of file an application for obtaining passport</p>

<p>"<strong>办</strong>护照" means "<strong>make arrangement to obtain</strong> a passport" It describes the whole procedure of obtaining passport</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-08T11:04:21.047Z
2018-02-08T11:04:21.047Z
Tang Ho
<p>办 is short for 办理 in this context. </p>

<p>Actually, 办理 and 申请 are used quite differently. Say you apply for (申请)a visa, the staff  will (办理) make it ready  for you, which might include inspecting your application form and other relevant documents. For example, 我提出申请，请您帮我办理。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-08T13:26:27.177Z
When you say I am going  to '办护照' that means you will apply for one and the passport office will 发护照 to you.
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-08T12:29:45.783Z
2018-02-08T12:29:45.783Z
dan
<p>Sometime they are the same. But they are always different. 办 Means deal with, 申请 means apply for, weather sth can be done depends on the person whom you applied for!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-18T04:17:09.693Z
2018-02-18T04:17:09.693Z
user19131
<p>IMO 办 is a general statement for "deal with / ask people to handle some license related stuff", which includes 申请. So "申请" (apply for) is a subset of "办", whereas you can also say "办手续" but here 办 doesn't mean 申请. Also "办" is more colloquial, and 申请 is more formal. The formal version of 办 is 办理. Additionally, 办 is only for license (usually government related) stuff, but 申请
 can be "apply for" for anything. i.e. you can say "申请大学" (apply for college) but you can't say 办大学.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-08T20:14:00.217Z
2018-02-08T20:14:00.217Z
Ben Yang
<p>From what I can tell, they seem to be pretty interchangable, you can do both for a visa, passport, etc. Just wondering whether you can 办 something but not 申请 it, or vice versa?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-08T10:19:30.753Z
see dictionaries, e.g. bkrs: semantic field of 办  much larger than that of 申请, **办**  ＃４０１manage, do, handle; deal with **申请**  ＃２１５３ to apply for sth
application (form etc)
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-08T12:48:17.260Z
re top (later) answer: 办 can mean 办手续 go through the formalities ichacha: 我有点事得办一办。 I have something to attend to.esp. can apply to applicants (for passport, etc) themselves going through the required procedure, search dictionaries, web for examples like 办护照，签证，驾驶执照， iciba：I had a quite a Bit of trouble getting my passport.
我在办护照时遭遇到许多麻烦. 办签证不像你想的那么容易。我们是不是需要办签证?我明天得去大使馆办签证. （办 often simply means "get")
user6065
<word-choice>
Is there any difference between 办 and 申请？
# Is there any difference between 办 and 申请？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-08)

From what I can tell, they seem to be pretty interchangable, you can do both for a visa, passport, etc. Just wondering whether you can 办 something but not 申请 it, or vice versa?

**Tags:** word-choice

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: see dictionaries, e.g. bkrs: semantic field of 办  much larger than that of 申请, **办**  ＃４０１manage, do, handle; deal with **申请**  ＃２１５３ to apply for sth application (form etc)  
> **username_1**: re top (later) answer: 办 can mean 办手续 go through the formalities ichacha: 我有点事得办一办。 I have something to attend to.esp. can apply to applicants (for passport, etc) themselves going through the required procedure, search dictionaries, web for examples like 办护照，签证，驾驶执照， iciba：I had a quite a Bit of trouble getting my passport. 我在办护照时遭遇到许多麻烦. 办签证不像你想的那么容易。我们是不是需要办签证?我明天得去大使馆办签证. （办 often simply means "get")  

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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-02-08. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

"**申请**护照" means "**to apply for** a passport" It describes the action of file an application for obtaining passport

"**办**护照" means "**make arrangement to obtain** a passport" It describes the whole procedure of obtaining passport


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### Answer by username_3 on 2018-02-08. Score: 2

办 is short for 办理 in this context.

Actually, 办理 and 申请 are used quite differently. Say you apply for (申请)a visa, the staff will (办理) make it ready for you, which might include inspecting your application form and other relevant documents. For example, 我提出申请，请您帮我办理。

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: When you say I am going  to '办护照' that means you will apply for one and the passport office will 发护照 to you.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2018-02-18. Score: 0

Sometime they are the same. But they are always different. 办 Means deal with, 申请 means apply for, weather sth can be done depends on the person whom you applied for!


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### Answer by username_5 on 2018-02-08. Score: 0

IMO 办 is a general statement for "deal with / ask people to handle some license related stuff", which includes 申请. So "申请" (apply for) is a subset of "办", whereas you can also say "办手续" but here 办 doesn't mean 申请. Also "办" is more colloquial, and 申请 is more formal. The formal version of 办 is 办理. Additionally, 办 is only for license (usually government related) stuff, but 申请
can be "apply for" for anything. i.e. you can say "申请大学" (apply for college) but you can't say 办大学.


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