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Mainland born HKPR Dual Citizenship and Home Return Card experience

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  1. #11

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    May 2010
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    There are discussions on Chinese forums about how to cancel the household registration. You may take a look. Or simply get your relatives in China to check with the local police station about the procedure and requirements. Good luck!


  2. #12

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    Thanks for your valuable sharing, clear and logic!


  3. #13

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    Jul 2017
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    OP is not us citizen, right?


  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by chnlong:
    Background:
    • Chinese born in Mainland
    • Acquired foreign citizenship after working overseas
    • Came to HK on work visa using foreign passport
    • Became HKPR
    • Obtained HKSAR passport
    • Now applying for Home Return Card


    From my personal experience (all done legally and nothing dodgy), a mainland born Chinese who naturalised in a third-country but subsequently becomes a HK permanent resident is regarded as a Chinese citizen, so you can get a HKSAR passport. Your foreign citizenship is not recognised in Chinese territory (China, HK and Macau), but you can use your foreign passport for travel purpose. This effectively means that you have dual citizenship when not in China.

    The contradictory Chinese Nationality Law and the NPC Standing Committee's Explanations for how Chinese Nationality Law is implemented in HKSAR cause a lot of confusion over whether someone like me is a Chinese citizen or not. Here is my interpretation. Note that I am not a lawyer or solicitor, so this is just for your reference, and not a legal advice.

    (1) I was a Chinese citizen by birth (in Mainland).
    (2) According to Chinese Nationality Law Article 9, when I acquired my foreign citizenship by naturalisation, I lost my Chinese citizenship automatically.
    Article 9: Any Chinese national who has settled abroad and who has been naturalised as a foreign national or has acquired foreign nationality of his own free will shall automatically lose Chinese nationality.
    (3) As a result, when I entered HK to work, I was still treated as a foreign citizen.
    (4) Once I become a HK permanent resident, now the NPC Standing Committee's Explanations for how Chinese Nationality Law being implemented in HKSAR takes place. Therefore, my foreign citizenship is not recognised, and I am still a Chinese citizen. Funnily, this effectively means that I "regained" my Chinese citizenship that I never intended to lose.

    1. Where a Hong Kong resident is of Chinese descent and was born in the Chinese territories (including Hong Kong), or where a person satisfies the criteria laid down in the Nationality Law of the People’s Republic of China for having Chinese nationality, he is a Chinese national.
    4.Chinese nationals of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with right of abode in foreign countries may, for the purpose of travelling to other countries and territories, use the relevant documents issued by the foreign governments. However, they will not be entitled to consular protection in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and other parts of the People’s Republic of China on account of their holding the above mentioned documents.


    A few practical tips:
    (1) Never lie and cheat. You never know when it will backfire.
    (2) When applying for "Verification of Eligibility for Permanent Identity Card":

    * Choose under conditions 2b "A Chinese citizen who has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years before or after the establishment of the HKSAR.";
    * Also state your citizenship as "Chinese". This is not lying (see above explanation). You still need fill the travel document number (your foreign passport with HK visa stamps) in the form.
    * Do not choose "Persons not of Chinese nationality who have entered Hong Kong with valid travel documents, have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 7 years and have taken Hong Kong as their place of permanent residence before or after the establishment of the HKSAR."
    * Provide evidence about your Chinese citizenship (old Chinese passport, birth certificate, etc.)
    (3) Once have your HKPID, you can apply for HKSAR passport and Home Return Card. I'm still on the last item. Report later.

    Interesting. Thanks for posting your experience.

    However, based on the interpretation of the nationality law adopted at the 19th Session of the Standing Committee of the 8th National People's Congress in 1996, "a Hong Kong resident is of Chinese descent and was born in the Chinese territories (including Hong Kong), or where a person satisfies the criteria laid down in the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China for having Chinese nationality, he is a Chinese national."

    Why didn't HK government regard you as a Chinese national once you obtained the working visa entering HK? You became a Hong Kong resident at that time, 7 years before you verified the HKPR status.

    How did you obtain your China visa while you were a HK resident? Any questions were asked by the Chinese consulates officials?

  5. #15

    Join Date
    Jun 2017
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    You're correct that someone in the OP's position magically becomes a Chinese national again the moment they become a HK resident.

    Hyper-technically, you're a HK resident if you're eligible for an ID card, which happens if you're over 11 and granted a limit of stay greater than 180 days — so there's a weird unintentional exclusion if you're under 11 (which they seem to ignore in practice), and a deliberate exclusion if you get, say, a three-month study visa.


  6. #16

    Join Date
    May 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by regmonkey:

    Why didn't HK government regard you as a Chinese national once you obtained the working visa entering HK? You became a Hong Kong resident at that time, 7 years before you verified the HKPR status.

    How did you obtain your China visa while you were a HK resident? Any questions were asked by the Chinese consulates officials?
    Well, when I entered HK with a work permit and becomes a HK resident, even though in theory the interpretation of the nationality law by NPC for HK recognises my Chinese citizenship, I am not qualified to obtain a HKSAR passport (being a Chinese citizen does not automatically give you right to get a HKSAR passport). At the same time, Mainland China implements the Chinese Citizenship Law in full, so I cannot renew my Chinese passport. Therefore, the first 7 years in HK is effectively an overlapping period. During this period, I would still be regarded as a foreign citizen by Mainland China immigration authority, so I can obtain China visa using my foreign passport for entering and exiting Mainland China. In HK, theoretically I am a Chinese citizen, but I cannot obtain a China or HKSAR passport, so I can still use my foreign passport together with HK work permit to enter and exit HK. Even if I held a Chinese passport at the time, I would still need work visa for HK during the first 7 years anyway.

    Regardless, as I said, I am not a lawyer, so I am not entitled to interpret the law or give anyone any advice on the legal ground. I am simply sharing my experience and my personal opinion. Please decide what to do or what to believe with one's own judgement.
    waiming likes this.

  7. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by chnlong:
    Well, when I entered HK with a work permit and becomes a HK resident, even though in theory the interpretation of the nationality law by NPC for HK recognises my Chinese citizenship, I am not qualified to obtain a HKSAR passport (being a Chinese citizen does not automatically give you right to get a HKSAR passport). At the same time, Mainland China implements the Chinese Citizenship Law in full, so I cannot renew my Chinese passport. Therefore, the first 7 years in HK is effectively an overlapping period. During this period, I would still be regarded as a foreign citizen by Mainland China immigration authority, so I can obtain China visa using my foreign passport for entering and exiting Mainland China. In HK, theoretically I am a Chinese citizen, but I cannot obtain a China or HKSAR passport, so I can still use my foreign passport together with HK work permit to enter and exit HK. Even if I held a Chinese passport at the time, I would still need work visa for HK during the first 7 years anyway.

    Regardless, as I said, I am not a lawyer, so I am not entitled to interpret the law or give anyone any advice on the legal ground. I am simply sharing my experience and my personal opinion. Please decide what to do or what to believe with one's own judgement.
    You are right. Neither HK nor mainland authority would issue a passport to you when you were a HK non-PR.

    I thought the interpretation was a part of nationality law, which is implementing in whole China including HK, so your visa application would have been denied. Instead, the commissioner's office of China's foreign ministry shall have issued a travel document (中國旅行證), just like to those who are born to Chinese parents and also gain dual citizenship by jus soli.

    Although HK ID card doesn't show the holder's nationality, the holder must claim one in the form ROP 1.Did you claimed the foreign nationality? I'm just curious.

    Again, thanks for sharing your unique case. I think it is so uncommon that the government still hasn't figured out how to administrate it.
    waiming likes this.

  8. #18

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    Jun 2017
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    HK has more restrictive immigration rules for "Chinese [citizen] residents of the mainland", who in general need permission from the mainland authorities to emigrate and have to give up their Hukou.

    But a Chinese citizen from the mainland who has emigrated legally, to another country, can get a visa on much the same terms as a foreigner (or a Chinese citizen born outside the mainland). So assuming the OP emigrated legally, they'd have been eligible to apply for a HK visa on the same terms as a foreigner.


  9. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by regmonkey:
    You are right. Neither HK nor mainland authority would issue a passport to you when you were a HK non-PR.

    I thought the interpretation was a part of nationality law, which is implementing in whole China including HK, so your visa application would have been denied. Instead, the commissioner's office of China's foreign ministry shall have issued a travel document (中國旅行證), just like to those who are born to Chinese parents and also gain dual citizenship by jus soli.

    Although HK ID card doesn't show the holder's nationality, the holder must claim one in the form ROP 1.Did you claimed the foreign nationality? I'm just curious.

    Again, thanks for sharing your unique case. I think it is so uncommon that the government still hasn't figured out how to administrate it.
    I was trying to comment on China mainland visa in the second paragraph.

    HK visa is another story. Sorry for the confuse
    waiming likes this.