The Ever Complicated Nationality Issue

1

1sttimemom

Registered User
I am due in July and trying to figure out if I have understood the very complicated nationality issue correctly...

I am Canadian by birth and have PR status in HK because of my parents, but I don't think I'm eligible for a HKSAR passport because I cannot provide my parents were still Chinese citizens only at the time of my birth. My husband is a Chinese national. Our baby will be born in HK.

I know she will be eligible for a Canadian passport because of me. Does my husband being Chinese mean our baby will be able to get a HKSAR passport and the home return permit to go back to China?

Any comments are appreciated! Thanks!
 
AFAIK, yes, your daughter will be eligible for the home return permit & passport...but, best thing to do is to contact the relevant authorities. ONLY they can tell you for sure.

ps> i would FIRST check out YOUR status... you don't mention if you are chinese or not... even if you are canadian, if you have chinese ethnicity, then that's a whole different kettle of fish afaik.
 
Thanks, Carang. I will check with the govt.

I am of Chinese descent, but I don't think I am Chinese as defined by the Chinese government.

I got the PR status in HK per the law in HK at the time of the handover, which stated that all persons who have one or both parents born in HK and visited HK at least once before Dec 31st 1997 and then at least once every 3 years could have PR. When I tried to apply for a HKSAR passport, they asked me for a bunch of documents I couldn't or would have a hard time providing - basically asking me to prove one/both my parents had not become another country's citizen at the time of my birth. Assuming this is because China doesn't officially allow dual citizenship.
 
MY experience is that it's by blood - if you are Chinese by blood, then your child is eligible for HKSAR passport/return home permit etc regardless of the parents nationalities. This was the case for my daughter even though both my husband and I are Australian nationals and he renounced his Chinese nationality 10+ years ago. I'm not even Chinese by blood, so my daughter is half Chinese.

I have another friend who had the same experience, she was from Singapore (Chinese) and hubby was from India. Neither are eligible for HKSAR passport because they don't have Chinese nationality - but the daughter was eligible because of her Chinese blood.

So my opinion is that she will be eligible because of your husband's nationality - and would be even if for some reason he renounced his nationality - regardless of your nationality/race.
 
Yes, your baby will be able to get the Chinese citizenship and HK passport. Actually you can also get Canadian at the same time since they will not check. I think the only reason you had a hard time is because you already were a citizen of another country; obviously it's a lot easier when you are first born and applying for citizenship.

When you get the birth certificate, that is, I believe, when you bring your husband's and your paperwork. Your case is super easy since your husband is already a Chinese national. In my case my husband is not Chinese and I was born in the US but my parents hold Taiwanese passports. Since China claims ownership of Taiwan, they acknowledge Taiwanese are Chinese, and my parents had to take my US birth certificate to the Taiwan consulate in the US to get it certified. Much more complicated process, but our baby still got her citizenship!
 
I am Chinese born but nationalized to US citizenship a while ago. My husband is not Chinese. My son was born here. I was able to get him HK PR. I've read that with the HK PR you can get multi entry visas for China up to 3 years. Really that's all I want because the return home permit for minors is only good for 3 years as well (and I'd rather not have to go through the hassel/cost of applying for HKSAR passport and return home permit). Has anyone with HK PR been able to get more than 1 year multi entry visa to China?
 
Thanks for all the feedback! Nicolejoy, I will definitely check this "by blood" thing out. Time to call the authorities!

hkmom1, I believe the 1st time you may get a 1 year multi-entry visa, but then after that they'd be open to giving a 3 year multi-entry.
 
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