Holding both US and Chinese Passports???

[jbradfor]

@kentehsailor:

.they are coming home in about 6 weeks and now the question arises as to how she should leave the country..

Maybe I'm missing something here, but the answer seems so obvious: use her Chinese passport to leave China and don't tell them about her USA passport. Why would you do anything different?

[And then she would use her USA passport to enter the USA again.]

[imron]

What happens when they check the Chinese passport and find there is no valid visa for the US, and therefore decide to prevent her from leaving?

[jbradfor]

Do they actually do that? Check the passport for a valid visa for the next country when you go through emigration in China? [emigration, not immigration, that is, when you leave a country.] The only time I've seen visas get checked is at immigration when you arrive, and sometimes the airlines do when you check-in or at the gate.

I'm not saying they don't (as I don't hold a Chinese passport), but it would really surprise me if they do. But then again, I've been surprised before. Especially in China.

Alternatively, does she still have her green card? If so, she can show that.

Edited September 1, 2009 at 01:26 PM by jbradfor

[liuzhou]

it would really surprise me if they do....check visas.

Almost every airport immigration / emigration dept. in the world checks visas for the next destination (China certainly does, especially for Chinese passport holders), as does the airline. The airline is responsible and can be heavily fined if a passenger rolls up without a visa.

You could try showing emigration one passport and the airline check in another, but you'd better make sure that the passport matches the one quoted when booking the ticket.

Or you could just do things legally.

[fanglu]

@kentehsailor:

I think the normal way Chinese people deal with this kind of problem is to go via Thailand, where both Chinese and western country passport holders don't require a visa.

I know this is inconvenient but...

Article 9 of the Chinese nationality law is: Article 9 Any Chinese national who has settled abroad and who has been naturalized as a foreign national or has acquired foreign nationality of his own free will shall automatically lose Chinese nationality.

http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/chnnationality_1.htm

So I'm guessing a person traveling on a Chinese passport when they have foreign nationality is probably breaking the law. I have no idea what the penalties are, if any. But maybe it would be safer to just spend a day extra travelling rather than find out.

[jbradfor]

Or you could just do things legally.

The problem is that she is already in China "illegally": she entered China with a Chinese passport even though she had naturalized in the USA. Given that, what do you feel is the most legal way to proceed?

Maybe she could talk with the USA embassy, and get a visa in her Chinese passport?

[gato]

Worst-case scenario: She gets a big fine at the airport on departure, her Chinese passport is confiscated, and she won't be able to get a visa to come back to China for a few years.

http://big5.ctrip.com/community/qa/152476.html

沒收/作廢中國護照,原機遣返,罰款三萬,三年-五年內不能用任何簽証進入中國

http://www.okwang.cn/h/090130114/385318.htm

两本护照出入境之我谈

发布人:游客 发布时间:2007-07-24

中国不承认双重国籍，你一旦拿加国护照，中国国籍就没了，而如果中国认为你是中国公民，可以撕毁你的加国护照。所以，如果你持中国护照入境，中国不会拦阻你。问题在你离开中国返回加国的时候，你将失去合法文件。只有中国护照无法出国，可是你的加国护照上没有中国入境签证，这说明，你要麽是非法入境必须交罚款(据 说按“天”算钱)，要麽你还把自己当成中国人，加国护照会被视为无效。 所以，拿两本护照出入境，并不可行。

持有效中国护照回国，入关时中国并不会知道，所以不存在违法不违法的问题，即使违法，人家也不查。关键在於出关，返回加国。这时候，你的中国护照已经不好使了，出 不了国，只好拿加国护照。但是加国护照上没有入境签证，这就麻烦了。 　　

非法入境有什麽处罚，俺不清除，俺只听说，逾期滞留者是按“天” 为单位计算罚款的，这能给边警同志们生财，人家是不会疏忽大意的。千万不要“以身试法”。

http://www.chuguohome.com/news/11644.html

拿加国护照，别冒险再用中国护照入境

时间：2008-08-13 作者：Beethoven 来源：互联网 点击：

冒那个险，一旦发现将被驱逐出镜，不许再入境，已有朋友被驱逐，后在多伦多中国领事馆申请签证被拒，永远无法回到中国，很难受。至於公安机关如何知道他的身份真相则不得而知，可能是被人给“举”了吧。

事实上，越来越多的人认识到脚踩两只船很难，连我的一个和北京市公安局5处交往很深的人都放弃了这种想法，每次申请签证回国。毕竟，非法入境在全世界都是打击的对象，中国在这个问题上的强硬立场并不孤立。

[zerolife]

Do they actually do that? Check the passport for a valid visa for the next country when you go through emigration in China? [emigration, not immigration, that is, when you leave a country.] The only time I've seen visas get checked is at immigration when you arrive, and sometimes the airlines do when you check-in or at the gate.

Yes, I'm very positive they do. I'm a German citizen with US Greencard. Twice when I departed from China, the immigration officer (on the Chinese side) checked for my Chinese visa AND my Greencard

[zerolife]

OK, thanks.

This person's major issue was being able to visit her home country, China, for months at a time without having to leave to renew the visa. It sounds like she would have been better off just keeping her US green card and not going all the way to citizenship. With the green card one would be free to come and go between the two countries without the visa restrictions. Oh well!

That might be a bad idea. The Greencard is not a "permanent" thing. It's very easy to lose it if you travel abroad for an extended period. Basically all they need to say is that they believe you left your residency in the US for them to revoke your Greencard next time you try to enter the US. It's automated if you leave the country for a year or more but anytime you leave the country for more than six months, you may run into problems. And no, they don't reset the clock if you jump back to the US for a few weeks. As a permanent resident, you should be spending the majority of the year in the US, and not abroad.

[leeovisa]

To Kentehsailor,

She can cancel her Hukou and her Chinese nationality. And then apply for an Exit/Entry permit by using her US nationality (it is not a visa stuck on her US passport. But it has the same function as a visa that enable her to leave China legally). Normally this permit is 3-month valid.

If her Hukou place is a big city, it will be eaiser to have it done. But if it is not, the local authotiry may delay the process due to the unfamiliarity.

If she had used her US passport to come to China, it would have been much easier. Cancel her hukou. Then she is legal.

----------------

cn-visa.com

[simonlaing]

Don't the kids of US Chinese parents get eligibility for 2 passports , one chinese one US until they are 18 and then they are supposed to choose one?

I have had my green book resident permit taken from me in the airport (back when the green book resident permit was the visa) becuase it was the single entry visa. It was a hassle as I had to go to the Chinese consulate and beg for another visa. (I wasn't visiting my home country).

This is an interesting thread. I bet my wife and I will have these issues later when she starts to naturalize.

have fun,

Simon:)

[gerri]

Re. children:

From a thread where Germans are discussing these issues, neither China nor (in this case) Germany want to allow for dual passports; the parents have to choose for their child.

It used to be that there was a way around it, with Germany giving some sort of visa so that both passports could be used - Chinese with German visa to get out of the country, German passport to enter Germany - rather more easily, but they have stopped doing that.

What happens now is that Germany considers the child of (one) German parent, German - and China considers the child of (one) Chinese parent, Chinese.

So, you either never leave the country (with your child), or you decide for your child... at the moment, the main hope seems to be that the hukou system will some day be abolished, anyways. Plus, it seems that children of mixed-nationality parents can run into problems getting into normal Chinese schools, anyways.

[PBG]

Very useful thread. American living in NE China, married local and have 3-year old boy. Boy has both Chinese and American passports - not legal in China, yes, but until now, not an issue. Trying to travel outside China and the issue becomes clear. Use USA passport, lose Chinese passport options (no plans to return to the States, so this is an issue for the boy), and then explain to authorities what the kid's been doing for 3 years without any Chinese visa. Can't use Chinese passport as USA won't, logically, issue a visa to a citizen. Go via Thialand using Chinese pport out , USA passport from BK to WASH, and vice versa on return? Any recent changes in Chinese law? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Snuggles]

This thread is old but I figure its best to add some info in case anybody else comes looking.

My child was born in China to a Chinese mother. We got her a US passport from the US embassy in China.

Today I went and spoke with the police about getting her a visa....here is what I was told.....(I HAVEN'T ACTUALLY FINISHED THIS PROCESS SO IT COULD BE WRONG . BUT THIS IS WHAT I WAS TOLD AT THE ENTRY EXIT BUREAU).

The baby doesn't need a visa or any additional paperwork. The baby only needs its foreign passport and its birth certificate to stay in China.

HOWEVER, if you plan on leaving China you must go and get a one time exit paper. This will allow the Child to leave with its foreign passport even there is not a visa/stamp inside. This paper is only good for exiting the country one time. Upon exiting the child cannot come back without a visa in its passport book. You must take the baby to a Chinese embassy and if one of the parents is Chinese they will issue a 6 year tourist visa. This 6 year tourist visa can be renewed every 6 years without leaving China.

[gato]

If the baby is born in China to a Chinese citizen mother, the baby is automatically a Chinese citizen and would need a 出入境通行证 to exit and/or to return to China.

http://shzbj.beijing.cn/crjfw/s214085196/n214085267.shtml

要先向我国出入境管理部门申请《中华人民共和国出入境通行证》，做为护照代用证件办理