Dual PRC and US citizenship

[liuyadavid]

Hi!

I was hoping whether anyone out there can help with my question.

I am a PRC passport holder and last month became a naturalized US citizen and recd my US passport. I have used my PRC passport to travel in and out of China from/in Hong Kong without any problem since I have a dependent visa to live in Hong Kong on my PRC passport.

My question is can I use my PRC passport to trave from/to China to/ from US or another country like Japan instead of using my US passport. For example, if I enter and exit China, I will use my PRC passport and then use my US passport to enter the US. Is this possible as I heard that China customs will not allow a PRC passport holder to exit China without the appropriate visa. Before I received my US passport, I have travelled to the US from China with my China passport and US green card without any probelm

If this is not possible, would I have to take the long way by transiting through Hong Kong first since I already have a Hong Kong dependent visa? The reason for my question is obvious since I will not have to pay any China visa fees.

[LittleCamel]

Is this possible as I heard that China customs will not allow a PRC passport holder to exit China without the appropriate visa.

That's correct. Every Chinese citizen, who wants to travel abroad needs a valid visa for the destinated country, otherwise they won't let you.

So in case if you use your US passport to leave china, the custom will check for valid visa for china before departure in order to charge any fees if you extended the visa expiration date.
Following, you won't have any valid visa for china - means you were staying illegally in China. As a result you will have the chance to make some friends in chinese prison.

So, your problem is the double nationality, two passports. The Government of China does not allow chinese citizen to hold two passports.

So stay away from china or use solely your US Passport and apply for valid visa.

[liuyadavid]

Thanks, but there must be a way to keep your PRC passport and use it to enter/exit China while also holding another foreign passport. I understand from reading other threads that this is possible My question is how this can be done if one exits China without a valid visa of the destination country, although that person has a passport of that country.

[Bobbybo]

David, I don 't think it's possible to exit China without a visa if you enter with a PRC passport.
And, btw, entering with PRC passport in China means you are a PRC citizen and USA consulate/embassy cannot grant you any protection in case you need, cause you enetered China as Mainlander and not as USA citizen.

I suggest to be careful.

My wife, Chinese, will soon get Italian passport and we are ready to get visa for her entering China in the future. But you can keep your PRC ID card for using it in domestic flights or for registering a SIM card for instance.

[debrax]

Your US greencard grants you entry into the US. So what you need to do is to remember to only enter and leave China with the Chinese passport, also to use your Chinese passport to enter the US if part of the same trip, because I've seen Chinese customs officers checking all the necessary stamps on the passports, Chinese and foreign, so I guess they need to see a correspondence of stamps. With the green card, you can always enter the US, only problem is you'll probably have to wait in line. Small price to pay really. Keep your US passport for trips to other countries.

I've always thought the US doesn't allow dual nationality either. Are you sure it's OK?

[chimo]

My girlfriend is able to travel in and out of China with PRC passport without stamps, but I think it is a different kind of passport. She translated it to me as 'Return to Motherland' passport, for HK residents who have to right to live and work in China. She was not born in China nor has she ever lived there, but I guess she got it because of her parents birth-right? To make a long story short, she uses her HKID to leave HK, her chinese passport to enter and leave mainland China (without any visa stamp) and her Canadian passport for every other country in the world.

[cbea007]

To Chimo...

obviously, that is not a Chinese passport, that is called the "Home Return Permit" issued to HK and Macau residents to use it to travel to and from China. It is different from the legitimate PRC passport used by PRC citizen.