“Do you have a Chinese passport?”
One of the questions I’m often asked when I am back in Spain is if I already have Chinese nationality. If you are a foreigner living in China you must be thinking that the question is absolutely ludicrous, but people who have always lived in the same place don’t really know how these things work because they have never even had to think about it. They believe that, because I’m married to a Chinese national, I’m entitled to get a Chinese passport. Or, at the very least, a green card or similar.
I totally deserve a Chinese green card though, I’m helping with their gender imbalance.
The reality is that being married to a Chinese citizen doesn’t give me any advantage at all, except that I can apply for a family visa, which is basically like a one year tourist visa because I am not allowed to work on it. I haven’t needed it for now because I have my work visa, which is linked to the company I work for.
Another issue is that China does not allow its citizens to have dual nationality so, even if I could get a Chinese passport just for being married (is this even possible in any country?), I would need to give up my Spanish passport.
Baby A. has a slightly different problem. His father is Chinese so China automatically considers him a Chinese citizen. However, I wanted my child to be Spanish and I registered him in the Spanish consulate and obtained a passport. Let’s be honest here, I don’t think anyone would prefer a Chinese passport over a European one, at least for now. The problem is that China insists that he is Chinese, so they won’t give him a visa or residence permit in his Spanish passport and to leave the country he needs to apply for a special “exit & entry permit”. We are also supposed to start a burocratic process to officially reject his Chinese citizenship (yes, that same citizenship we never asked for and now need to reject) which can take up to two years. Right now, he’s in a grey area.
So, every time someone asks if I have a Chinese passport, or if my child has dual nationality, I always say: “It’s complicated”.
Baby A.’s Spanish passport and Chinese exit and entry permit.
¡It’s complicated, indeed! I’ve always wondered what would happen in that case…
Wow, that’s crazy! Have you heard of similar cases where China refuses to accept the foreign nationality? Do you know if it plays a role whether the father or mother is Chinese? I mean, would it make any difference is the mother is Chinese?
If the mother is Chinese it’s the same. As long as one parent is Chinese, the baby is automatically Chinese in China’s eyes, even if the baby is born outside China. The only way the baby would not be considered Chinese is if the Chinese parent had a green card or similar permanent residence document from another country.
Yeah it is very complicated. Both of our kids got German and Finnish passport and (thankfully) because they were not born in China they get every two years now a Chinese travel document. They don’t need a Visa for China which is really neat. However they are still considered Chinese and the embassy recommended us to get rid of he European passport 😏
I can get that two year one, but it can only be obtained from outside China so I would need to go to the consulate in Madrid. Will do it in the future if we don’t renounce nationality. The one I can get in China is only valid for 3 months and one entry/exit.
They told you that? They are so ridiculous, hahaha. Chinese people would kill to get their children a foreign passport and you are going to just give it up like that when you live in Europe, haha. Because a Chinese passport is sooooo much better.
Wow, interesting to know! Keep us updated on what you plan to do! ❤️✨
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Wow really complicated !
Is there a concept of green card in China ?
The reason why I don’t want to get a Belgian passport (it will save me so much trouble for visas payment .. ) is also because then I need to give up my chinese one, then it will also be too complex for me :)
There are green cards in China, but it is very difficult to get one. Unless you are a Nobel prize winner or a famous basketball player, then you will get offered one in no time :D
I guess Belgium is like Spain, do you get a 5 year residence card? I need to renew my Chinese visa and residence permit every single year… So annoying.
Hey Marta, oh I didn’t know it is so difficult ! In belgium yes after 5 years of working we can apply for the long term residence – renewed every 5 year. I got a type D European one which means I can work within EU.
China working overtime to make it tough on everyone without a Chinese passport.
Trump wants to eliminate giving US nationality to anyone born there, right? He would screw so many Chinese people who go there to give birth, hahaha.
Yes, he wants to end birthright citizenship. But it’s in the Constitution, so it’s harder than his other plan, which is to accept zero refugees and issue no visas to anyone of color.
I think in some countries if you live and work there for some specific time, you can get that country’s passport. Not sure though. In HK, you get dependant visa (on which you can normally work) from HK spouse for 2-2-3 years and after that you get permanent residency. Seems China is very different!
In China as far as I know it is very difficult to get long term or permanent residency…
Oh jeez. Somehow as the world gets smaller and more technologically advanced, it feels like things should get easier, right?
RIGHT?!
:p
That “right” sound be read as “riiiiiiiight” xD
My son is in a similar situation- born in China with my husband Chinese. We applied for the entry exit permit from the US – completely worth it and will not make him renounce until he is 16 or 18. Who knows what the world will be like in another 10 years? Completely understand the “it’s complicated.”
The exit entry permit that lasts for 2 years, right? As far as I know, you are supposed to renounce too… But maybe the officers there don’t care much. In Suzhou I was told I have to start the process if I want to keep applying for the permit, as it is supposed to be something temporary only to be used while you renounce.
The rules really keep changing – we also don’t live in Mainland China anymore so once you are out I think the consulate gives you different advice! Will see, the current one lasts until beginning of next year I think…
Ah, if you live outside I think you don’t need to worry much! I even read someone saying living outside for two years, on a foreign passport, is like an implicit renunciation of the Chinese nationality. Who knows…
I know of a Canadian resident, who probably doesn’t yet have a citizenship but is a Chinese national.
He works for our organization (govn’t). He doesn’t have certain rights.. it appears the Chinese govn’t has become stricter and the non-Chinese citizens don’t have certain rights.
He doesn’t have certain rights in Canada, or in China? In China, foreigners have even less rights than Chinese, haha. I cannot even invest the money I legally earned and paid taxes for!
Because he is a landed immigrant, he can’t vote yet. He has to become a citizen.
I just spoke with a work colleague who immigrated from mainland China over 2 decades ago. She still visits her aging parents annually. Her sister lives there and work for municipal govn’t. A very large city of over 7 million. She is a mid level civil servant. Every time she returns from CAnada visiting, she must hand in her passport to the govn’t authorities. She is a Chinese national. Apparently no Chinese municipal govn’t employees are allowed to go to Macau.
I guess he won’t miss voting too much… He has never had to do it hahaha!
Oh yes, I have heard govt employees are very monitored. I’m even surprised she can travel abroad, I thought it was not even permitted. And Macau… So they don’t go to the casino to spend public funds maybe 😂
Apparently when Chinese govn’t employee are at a certain management level, they can’t travel overseas. She turned down a promotion…so that she could remain at her level..to travel overseas to visit her sister in Canada.
” Apparently no Chinese municipal govn’t employees are allowed to go to Macau.” where have you heard that from? Completely wrong, I’ve never heard that. The state says “公务员可以去澳门。
国家限制禁止的是公务员因公赴澳。” It means municipal govn’t employees can go to Macau with a personal passport instead of a official passport!
I’m glad to see that yet another parent feels the same joys of mixed nationality parenting. While I know you know, your readers might be interested in learning that the fun doesn’t end at international travel or visa considerations. There is also the wonderful and not complicated at all hukou system, a city citizenship system for those unaware of the levels of red tape, which determines how you access government services like schooling and grants you permission to do things like buy a house somewhere. We’re thinking about kindergarten and trying to figure out where our little one will go – as she too is still a Chinese citizen. In Suzhou? Maybe, only we sold our house there so lost the property rights for that school. Or in Beijing, where my wife has hukou? Or through my residency permit, or my wife’s danwei with her job? Can we rent and access that school district? Can anyone with any authority answer our questions – not a one.
Oh, you already sold your house? But are you still living in Suzhou?
I find the hukou system ridiculous and outdated. But the star response is always: “But there’s so many people in China! They would all go to Shanghai and Beijing!” News flash, if they really want to move there, they are going to regardless…
I think your best option is to check directly with the kindergarten you want your daughter to go to. There always seems to be a way here, either with guanxi or with money.
Yeah, we sold back in July. The reactions from my Chinese friends and family were quite funny. Now I get to buy a house in Beijing – my poor wallet.
I’m up in Beijing for a year so my wife can do some research up here. It’s been a great change of pace – and the food is heaven and it’s already turning cold, which I’ve missed.
I’m hoping my little cutie will help get those hard nosed kindergarten officials to want to include her in the class. But I’m not sure we want to send her to the Junior or middle years. Three years of kinder just seems strange to me.
We’ve thought about selling too, we would get quite a good profit and would be able to buy a house with a swimming pool in Spain for that money, hahaha. Not sure what you can get in Beijing :P
So now you will have heating. And I bet the air is better up there. I’ve been here for two days and it sucks. I can’t bear the thought of spending another horrible winter with shitty air.
My AQI app says Beijing is in the green. It’s over 150 here. Seriously, WTF, Suzhou????
Hahaha – I did the same thing. I could have a 600m, on a lake with a yard back home. Or a box in Xicheng. Yeah – air here has been good. But that could be because of the big 70th party. We’ll see but either way, Suzhou has been getting worse and worse.