"China Card" for Permanent Residents Traveling on US Passport
- Thread starter thanka2
- Start date
However, as I understand it, the States is different...you are not allowed "dual citizenship" and definitely not with China. So, whether they are born in the States or here, or order to have Chinese citizenship (nationality) they wouldn't be able to keep their US citizenship. And for us, having our kids have US citizenship and passports at this point makes more sense than having Chinese citizenship and HK passports because if that was the case, we'd have to get visas for them to travel to the States even to see my family and when they get older if they choose to study in the States then that would present problems too.
Pretty sure our kids would have "right of abode", right? Why wouldn't they? They are equally Chinese by descent as they are "American" by descent, right? That makes sense...but I don't know.
howardcoombs
Registered User
You have misunderstood something and are definitely mistaken:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html
There are thousands (if not tens of thousands) that hold dual US/Chinese citizenships.
A useful primer : http://www.richw.org/dualcit/faq.html
China will not allow dual citizenship - but in order to 'get it' you would have to apply for China first then your 'other' citizenship. if you are born in HK then you should be eligible for the HKSAR even with another citizenship - but if you are not born in HK then you have to renounce whatever passport you hold because the HK Gov will not allow dual citizenship because China does not allow it. my kids have both because i applied for HKSAR first and then as a Canadian I applied for the canadian passport for them too - no problem...then i got the 'return home permit' for them with no difficulty.
having 3 stars only means that you have the rights to remain 'permanently' in HK but it does not mean you are a citizen. apparently the letter codes next to the 3 stars give you away - in the sense that it indicates that you were not born in HK but have spent the required time in HK to become a permanent resident. i am literally the only person in my whole family (including extended) that does not have a return home permit (even though many others were also not born in HK) because they decided to enforce the rules more stringently when i finally got my act together to apply....sucks being me - i have to get a visa to visit china every time!
having 3 stars only means that you have the rights to remain 'permanently' in HK but it does not mean you are a citizen. apparently the letter codes next to the 3 stars give you away - in the sense that it indicates that you were not born in HK but have spent the required time in HK to become a permanent resident. i am literally the only person in my whole family (including extended) that does not have a return home permit (even though many others were also not born in HK) because they decided to enforce the rules more stringently when i finally got my act together to apply....sucks being me - i have to get a visa to visit china every time!
howardcoombs
Registered User
You do have to get a chop everytime but with your 3* you should be able to get a 3 year visa without too much difficulty.
If you dont want to get a visa at all, you could also look into getting an APEC card:
http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/hktraveldoc_4.htm
nicolejoy
Registered User
Actually, the 3 stars DOES mean "right of abode". If an expat gets a permanent ID card, or if a Chinese national (such as my husband) revokes his nationality, they do not have any stars. They are allowed to live in Hong Kong and work etc, but it's not "right of abode" - they have extra requirements, for example if they are out of HK for more than 3 years, they can have their permanent ID status revoked. Also they are not allowed to have a HKSAR passport or the return home permit.
nicolejoy
Registered User
I don't think so, if they are not "Chinese National" they can get the above mentioned permanent ID card but with restrictions. I don't think that immigration classifies it as "right of abode".
May I ask what yours and your husband's residency/citizenship status is? How did you go about applying for the Hong Kong passport? Did you register your birth with the US Consulate here?