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Application for naturalization as a Chinese national

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  1. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by notnewinhk:
    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.
    Maybe I'm wrong, but Article 5 seems to have laid down two conditions for a person to not be considered Chinese at the time of his birth:

    But a person whose parents are both Chinese nationals and have both settled abroad, or one of whose parents is a Chinese national and (1) has settled abroad, AND (2) who has acquired foreign nationality at birth shall not have Chinese nationality.
    I added the numbers in parentheses just to show my interpretation of the law. Isn't it saying that the person must have both foreign nationality at birth AND parents who were settled abroad? If just having parents who were settled abroad is enough for them to not be Chinese, why add the extra clause about acquisition of foreign nationality?

    The recent Court of First Instance case that defined "settled abroad" seems to have failed because the applicant had both acquired Canadian citizenship when he was born AND his parents were already permanent residents of Canada.

    But as I said, maybe I'm wrong, so feel free to correct me.

    Quote Originally Posted by User:
    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)?
    No, I didn't. I'm pretty sure I was Chinese at birth. The situation is this: I was born in Saigon and both my parents were ROC citizens when I was born. I can definitely prove this for at least one of them, most probably my mother, as I recall keeping her citizenship documents. For those who aren't familiar with the incident of forced naturalization, all residents of Chinese descent in Saigon were literally forced to take on Vietnamese citizenship - this is a historical fact, and it happened after 1956. All of my family, relatives and friends had Vietnamese nationality forced on them after this decree. None of us would have wanted it otherwise, so I can't say that my nationality at birth could've been anything else but Chinese. Forced citizenship had yet to take place when I was born. Naturalization as a British citizen happened many years after that, when I came to the UK in the 80s, so yes, I've had my nationality "changed" twice so far. From Chinese to Vietnamese, and eventually from Vietnamese to British. It's pretty disheartening, because none of my family wanted to have Vietnamese nationality in the first place, but that's how it happened - I can only say I was born in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    Having said that, we were all ROC citizens (probably?), not PRC. I'm not even sure these nationality laws had been established back then, considering it was only a few years after the founding of the PRC when these events took place, so now, I'm not sure how the present laws might apply to me and my parents retrospectively. In any case, I consider myself Chinese before I was forced to adopt new citizenship.

    P.S. My father lived and died in HK. He never set foot on the UK.

  2. #12

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    Your understanding of CN law is correct.

    And it applies retrospectively.

    There is a birh n death registry in HK,
    you could try to get a death certificate.
    Just as additional document.

    Most important is to prove who your parents are and that one of them was not settled abroad at the time of your birth.

    Last edited by Morrison; 24-02-2013 at 05:13 PM.

  3. #13

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    Nov 2009
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    According to the PRC Nationality Law (also in force in HK) --
    1) You had Chinese nationality at birth because you didn't have any foreign nationality when you were born in a foreign country;
    2) You didn't lose Chinese nationality when you acquired Vietnamese nationality because you didn't voluntarily acquire Vietnamese nationality;
    3) Your Vietnamese nationality is never recognized by the PRC authorities (incl. HK ImmD);
    4) You left Vietnam for the UK as a Chinese citizen (though maybe bearing a Vietname passport or a refugee travel document) and lost Chinese nationality when you settled in the UK and voluntarily acquired British nationality; and
    5) You are not a Chinese national.

    --The above are my conclustions if your acquisition of Vietnamese nationality is truly "not voluntary" as you described.

    Last edited by User; 24-02-2013 at 06:46 PM.

  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Morrison:
    Most important is to prove who your parents are and that one of them was not settled abroad at the time of your birth.
    How do you suppose I could prove something from so far back?

    It seems there was much less bureaucracy in the old days. Both my parents were living in Vietnam when I was born, but my father made frequent trips to HK. I don't know if he could be considered as settled abroad, since we didn't have documents of any kind showing he had permanent residency there or, if we did, they've been lost. Our family home was there and he was there mainly to do business. But anyway, would it really matter even if he'd settled abroad if I hadn't acquired foreign nationality when I was born?

    I do have a death certificate for my father.

  5. #15

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    Well, it is important that you come up with solutions yourself. HK Immi is quite understanding and very reasonable. At least in my case which was similarly complicated.

    As to your last question in bold, your understanding is correct, I forgot that you had not acq. any other at birth.

    Allow me one more advice, go for it.
    Don't be discouraged by what some say here.

    It's a great community but a very complex matter,
    so even some experts here make mistakes.
    Let Immi verify

    Last edited by Morrison; 24-02-2013 at 08:24 PM.

  6. #16

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    For me the not settled abroad issue was crucial to prove,
    so my mind was still focussed on that.
    Fortunately, I got some official writing from back home and that was accepted.


  7. #17

    I agree with Morrison. Go for it. Like what I said before, no matter what, the first thing you should do is to get the HKID with ROA status and that one will not cost you much at all.
    You will know then whether the HK IMMD considers you as Chinese National or not when you go through that process. They're efficient and as far as I know, they're helpful and understanding.
    All the best!


  8. #18

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    All this is super cheap, especially when you compare it with investment visa or seven years of your life.
    Now I save A LOT in tax here


  9. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by 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.
    Do you have to already hold a Hong Kong (non-Chinese) Permanent Identity Card with Right of Abode to go through the Naturalisation process? Or can you hold Hong Kong (non-Chinese) Identity Card with Right to Land only and go through the Naturalisation process? Is RTL -> non-Chinese ROA a pre-requisite "step" first before applying for naturalisation?

  10. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by dossier:
    Do you have to already hold a Hong Kong (non-Chinese) Permanent Identity Card with Right of Abode to go through the Naturalisation process? Or can you hold Hong Kong (non-Chinese) Identity Card with Right to Land only and go through the Naturalisation process? Is RTL -> non-Chinese ROA a pre-requisite "step" first before applying for naturalisation?
    If RTL won't get you a $6,000 handover from the government, it's not going to get you naturalisation as a Chinese citizen.
    dossier likes this.

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