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emmie · 27-10-2009, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by Elfin safety:

A HKSAR passport holder by definition has Chinese nationality.

It depends whether or not you already have Chinese nationality in the eyes of the PRC government. If yes, then no problem; if not, then you should need to acquire Chinese nationality i.e become a naturalized citizen by virtue of eligibility through residence (which would require renouncing your existing citizenship)...

[Bold mine] Then I'll stop right there. No 'renouncing', thank you very much.

Were you parents settled in the UK at the time of your birth? Were you born before 1983 (thereby automatically acquiring British citizenship at birth)? If yes/yes, then you do not have Chinese nationality. Otherwise you may already have Chinese nationality & therefore eligible for a HKSAR passport.

"Yes" to both. Parents worked/settled in the UK for years, got Brit passports, married, then I came along...

Anyway...the British Citizen passport is vastly superior to the HKSAR passport for international travel purposes. I can't think of any good practical reason why you should want the HKSAR passport as an alternative travel document for international travel purposes

... It's even more convenient to use a BC passport to enter Taiwan!

Yeah, been there 3-4 times, and the US twice, plus other places where an HKSAR passport would not help as much... So, guess no use except if I lost or mislaid my BC one (and that has happened to silly ol' me a coupla times!).

And so, Steven-from-Holland's case appears to be different...

Good of you all to clear that one up for me.

Steven878 · 28-10-2009, 07:53 AM

I was a dutch citizen right away when i was born. My parents never got me a birth certificate from the british embassy they were british bo passport holders, so i dont see it why i was always a chinese citizen. When i applied for the hkid card i only showed immigration my mom's birth certificate my mom's and date wedding certificate and a document where was stated when we got nutralized as dutch citizens.
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PDLM · 28-10-2009, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by Steven878:

I was a dutch citizen right away when i was born. My parents never got me a birth certificate from the british embassy they were british bo passport holders, so i dont see it why i was always a chinese citizen. When i applied for the hkid card i only showed immigration my mom's birth certificate my mom's and date wedding certificate and a document where was stated when we got nutralized as dutch citizens.

The British passport thing is irrelevant unless your parents are (or were) full British Citizens. Children of BDTC or BN(O)s have no right to anything British unless born in the UK, or in HK prior to 1997.

For you to be a Chinese citizen now and still retain Dutch citizenship which you got from birth (presumably because your parents were Dutch citizens at the time of your birth) then someone at ImmD must have made a mistake (or applied the rules more loosely than they do now).

I assume your statement "when we naturalized as Dutch citizens" actually meant "they naturalized" (referring to your parents). If you naturalized rather than having Dutch Citizenship from birth then the whole story is far more readily reconciled with Immigration laws.

Hairball · 28-10-2009, 12:06 PM

Citizenship isn't always a choice, in many cases it is "automatic".

I don't know anything about Dutch nationality law, but just read that along with the Chinese nationality law and perhaps you will see why you are a dual citizen.

You can still be a citizen of a country even if you hold no formal documents of it. Though of course in your case it is formalized because you said you have a Hong Kong Identity Card.

Steven878 · 30-10-2009, 12:52 AM

I think that is why I got accepted. During the time I was born my parents did not had a Dutch citizenship yet! It was a few years later when they got their Dutch cizitenship. I also declared a letter from the Dutch government where it state whith the date when my parents got Dutch citizen ship. As I was still a child immigration wanted to know when my parents got the their Dutch citizenship.
Yeah I know it sounds confusing :-)

Originally Posted by PDLM:

The British passport thing is irrelevant unless your parents are (or were) full British Citizens. Children of BDTC or BN(O)s have no right to anything British unless born in the UK, or in HK prior to 1997.

For you to be a Chinese citizen now and still retain Dutch citizenship which you got from birth (presumably because your parents were Dutch citizens at the time of your birth) then someone at ImmD must have made a mistake (or applied the rules more loosely than they do now).

I assume your statement "when we naturalized as Dutch citizens" actually meant "they naturalized" (referring to your parents). If you naturalized rather than having Dutch Citizenship from birth then the whole story is far more readily reconciled with Immigration laws.

PDLM · 30-10-2009, 10:33 AM

OK, so that explains all the Chinese issues. You have been a Chinese Citizen since the day you were born and the story is now totally consistent with everything Hairball, Emmie and I have been saying.

I'm intrigued by the Dutch citizenship though. Being born in the Netherlands to foreign parents does not, as far as I can tell, give you Dutch citizenship. When did you get your first Dutch passport? My guess is that it was after your parents naturalized as Dutch Citizens, and possibly after you reached the age of 18.