Application for naturalization as a Chinese national

[JW87]

I have some questions about this. The application fee is pretty hefty so if my chances of success are very low, I won't bother.

What are my chances of being naturalized as a Chinese citizen (who wants to live in Hong Kong) considering the following facts:

1. My deceased father was born in China (mainland) and was a Chinese national with HK permanent residence/identity card - note: father is now DEAD but he was definitely Chinese and lived/worked in HK most of his life. The Chinese nationality laws and also the naturalization guidelines from HK immigration only talked about near relatives or parents in the present tense, so do I have a case if I want to claim a dead parent as my "near relative"?

2. I have half-siblings who are Chinese citizens with ROA in HK -but- I have lost touch with them (we're not close) and I probably don't want to speak to them again. Depending on them for an application is REALLY not an option because I refuse to contact them (for personal reasons, of course).

3. I'm ethnically Chinese. Not sure if this matters, but being an ethnic Chinese, am also fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin, so satisfying the "sufficient knowledge of the Chinese language" requirement they mentioned.

4. Despite #3, I'm a foreign national (British citizen) and I wasn't born in HK or China. Therefore I don't have ROA in HK although I go there a lot as a visitor and have stayed for long periods of time thanks to the generous 180-day visitor visa for Brits.

5. Definitely have income to support myself and I have no dependent siblings, spouse or children.

6. Am of good character and sound mind - not crazy and have never committed any crime or have a criminal record of any sort!

7. Not sure if "paid taxes in accordance with the law" refers to HK tax or tax in my country of domicile/residence but have alerted HK tax authorities that I don't have a HK ID card.

8. I intend to live in HK if application were approved.

And that's pretty much it, going through the rules listed on the GovHK website here:

http://www.gov.hk/en/residents/immig...ralisation.htm

I don't know if I would state any other legitimate reasons, other than being an ethnic Chinese who speaks Chinese and wants to live in HK/Chinese society with no visa restrictions or conditions of stay, whose father WAS Chinese, who has friends and relatives (not near relatives though) in HK, and who doesn't care much about retaining foreign nationality. Also, deceased mother didn't have ROA in HK and was born outside HK/China but she did have ROC (Taiwan) residence at some point in her life.

None of the migration schemes (QMAS, CIES, business investment visa, etc) apply to me, so this would be a last ditch attempt if I were to give it a go. Any thoughts/help would be appreciated.

[notnewinhk]

You don't have HK ID card?
To go through a naturalization process, you have to be a PR with ROA status and it's shown on your HK ID card.
You should go for the VEPIC process first and if the government acknowledges you as Chinese, you don't have to go for th naturalization process and you can apply for HK passport, live in HK and don't have to give up your current nationality.

[Morrison]

I second that. much better than naturalization as you might be a Chinese national by virtue of law already. If you cant provide certain documents then explain to Immi as to why and try to come up with as much documents as you can get from UK authorities.
Try to get a certificate that states your father was on a conditional visa at the time of your birth abroad, that is the most crucial document. And it means you are Chinese.

[JW87]

Are you guys referring to restoration of Chinese nationality? I looked that up and thought it might apply. My father may be considered as having had "settled abroad" at the time of my birth, but I never acquired any foreign nationality until many years later.

The tough part is proving that my father and myself were both Chinese when I was born. He never had a birth certificate and I'm not sure I have the documents that show we were both naturalized as foreign citizens at a much later stage. I'd have to go through my portfolio for anything that pertains to his nationality. For the time being, all I have is my birth certificate, a certificate of naturalization as British (second time I had my nationality changed) and my father's old HK ID card number. Not sure if that's enough to show anything useful.

[Morrison]

For my part, I was not talking about restoration.
I suggest you write HK Immi by email and ask them
to give advice on how to verify your nationality and subsequent ROA. Or you could submit the ROA app form directly claiming to have ROA and Chinese nat.
They will then tell you what documents to provide.

And check your father's status at the time of your birth.

Not sure how your nationality changes have affected your rights. People on this forum say mainland Chinese automatically lose their Chinese whereas HK and Macao Chinese must renounce their nat and thus dont lose automatically.

[notnewinhk]

Are you guys referring to restoration of Chinese nationality? I looked that up and thought it might apply. My father may be considered as having had "settled abroad" at the time of my birth, but I never acquired any foreign nationality until many years later.

The tough part is proving that my father and myself were both Chinese when I was born. He never had a birth certificate and I'm not sure I have the documents that show we were both naturalized as foreign citizens at a much later stage. I'd have to go through my portfolio for anything that pertains to his nationality. For the time being, all I have is my birth certificate, a certificate of naturalization as British (second time I had my nationality changed) and my father's old HK ID card number. Not sure if that's enough to show anything useful.

Tell the IMMD your situation and they will let you know what documents you should provide in this matter.
It's not gonna be easy without any written documents from your part.
Even if your father is still alive, his HK permanent residency can't be the proof that he's a HK citizen. And if your father had already settled abroad before you're born, you will not be considered as Chinese national anymore, no matter when you got your certificate of naturalization as British national.

[Morrison]

Fro what I know they will only tell him what documents to provide once he has submitted an application for verification of ROA or for HK passport. Without that only general guidance.

[notnewinhk]

Fro what I know they will only tell him what documents to provide once he has submitted an application for verification of ROA or for HK passport. Without that only general guidance.

Thanks for this input, but the fact of the matter is, the first step that the OP has to do is to get his HK ID with the ROA status.
If he's not eligible to get that one according to HK IMMD, then there's no HK passport can be issued for him at this time with or without going through the naturalization process as to go for the naturalization, he needs to have the PR with ROA status.

[Morrison]

Yes, my bad, it is in this sequence.

[User]

Your certificate of naturalization as British and your dad's travel document he used when he moved to the UK may be good to establish your Chinese nationality.

What do you mean by "second time I had my nationality changed"? Did you have any foreign nationality at birth (excluding those acquired through registration or application)?

You may need to claim that your had no foreign nationality at birth and provide supporting documents if HK ImmD requests.