UK child citizen with Chinese nationality - travel problems!

[Ash4uk]

Hello and thank you in advance for reading my post. I have a very unusual situation which has caused considerable head scratching in the last 24 hours!

I apologise in advance for the long post. There isn't a particularly easy way to explain!

Quick background:

My son (who is 6 years old) has a Chinese passport and a British passport, so he has both nationalities (only recognized as such in the UK though). I am a British citizen by birth, and my wife is a Chinese citizen currently holding a UK Biometric Residence Permit. My son was born in Beijing, China, (since I worked in Beijing for several years). He has a British birth certificate and a British passport. He is now living and going to school here in the UK since he returned to the UK in 2011 on a UK CoE Right of Abode visa in his Chinese passport. We all live in the UK, permanently.

Current situation:

I will travel with my son and my wife to China for the Spring Festival in February.

I took my son to the Chinese Embassy in London yesterday and they told us that they CANNOT issue him a Chinese travel (L) visa in his UK Passport because he still has a valid Chinese passport and so therefore he is recognized only as a Chinese citizen.

They said he must travel using his Chinese passport.

They told him they can give him a Temporary Single Entry/Exit Travel Permit, which is a small BLUE book that looks a bit like a passport that has my son's passport photo in it. I can go to collect it in London next week.

The Chinese Embassy in London also told me directly that this Temporary Single Entry/Exit Travel Permit (Blue book) can ONLY be used to ENTER/return to China (as a Chinese citizen).


Travel Problem:

However, the Chinese Embassy in London told me the Blue book will expire immediately after he enters China and it cannot be used to LEAVE China and return to the UK. So, therefore, when he has arrived in China, my son may not be able to return to the UK (he will effectively be 'in exile' after he arrives in Beijing).

Unless there is a way to successfully apply for another Temporary Single Entry/Exit Travel Permit (Blue book) when we are already in Beijing (i.e. from the Public Security Bureau who usually deal with this kind of thing) for him to use at Chinese customs in order to leave China?

The Chinese customs in Beijing will not let him use his British passport to LEAVE China to return to the UK because there is no Chinese travel (L) inside it (as I said above, the Chinese Embassy in London won't give him a travel (L) visa).

Additional background problem:

My son has a Chinese name in is Chinese passport (taken from his mother's side), and his UK/English name in his UK passport (taken from my side of the family). According to the Chinese Embassy in London, they 'don't know if he is the same person'. I had thought of this in advance and had a Deed Poll sent which renounced his Chinese name so that he should now only legally be known by his English name. I showed this to the clerk at the Chinese Embassy in London. They took a photocopy of it and said they would 'see if it could be useful'.

Having two names though means that to avoid mass confusion, it would be better surely to leave China on the same passport/name that to came into China on... I would assume anyway!

Questions:

You may ask "Why can't my son travel to China using his British passport with a L visa stuck inside it from the Chinese Embassy?!" Well the answer from the Chinese Embassy in London is that because my wife is a Chinese citizen and because she is the mother of my son (they are on the same Hukou in Beijing), therefore my son, and possibly even my wife, must give up their Chinese citizenship before my son is allowed to be issued get a Chinese Travel visa to put inside his British passport.

Stuck in the middle?

This is not a very easy situation. My son seems to be stuck in between two nationalities. The UK government allows more than one nationality at the same time, but the Chinese government only allows one nationality. We want our son to have both nationalities, but the Chinese government (and the Chinese Embassy in London) won't allow this.

Whether my son wants to go to China to visit his grandparents next week or next year, it seems this is the hurdle that must be crossed.

A Conclusion?

I heard that my son may renounce his Chinese citizenship to effectively resolve the situation, but that this can take up to 10 months to complete. So my question is, when my son arrives in China in 10 days, can he apply for a Temporary Single Entry/Exit Travel Permit (Blue book) in Beijing from the Beijing PSB so that he can return to the UK? (incidentally, we will visit Beijing for 3 weeks)


Thank you very much for reading through. Any help would be really appreciated. We may be quite a rare case where these circumstances have come about.

[xygnet]

You have full sympathy, it is not a fair system let the child stuck in the middle.

I was wondering have you tried to apply for British Visa on his/her Chinese passport?

[ban.s]

I was wondering have you tried to apply for British Visa on his/her Chinese passport?

The child is British Citizen and holds a British passport - so visa is not applicable.

[ban.s]

I am not an expert on Chinese immigration so can't comment whether a second entry/exit permit will be issued in Beijing. However flipping through your previous posts it seems some of the information you received this time contradict previous information (e.g. Blue Book validity)

Also didn't the child travel earlier to renounce chinese citizenship as per our previous posting?

Travel Problem:

However, the Chinese Embassy in London told me the Blue book will expire immediately after he enters China and it cannot be used to LEAVE China and return to the UK.

#2 Confirmed: The Chinese Entry/Exit Bureau in Beijing confirm on the phone that my son will be able to leave China using the same Chinese Travel Document he enter China on. His Chinese Travel Document (Blue Book) is valid for two years. Beijing airport POE officials also told me this.

Travel Problem:

Unless there is a way to successfully apply for another Temporary Single Entry/Exit Travel Permit (Blue book) when we are already in Beijing (i.e. from the Public Security Bureau who usually deal with this kind of thing) for him to use at Chinese customs in order to leave China?

My son (age 6) has dual nationality (British and Chinese) that is traveling to China in order to renounce their citizenship, and that the following facts apply:

He:

1. Currently lives permanently in the UK.
2. Has both a British and a Chinese passport.
2. Is not eligible for the issue of a Chinese travel visa in his UK passport (British citizenship not recognized). [British visa in Chinese passport no longer valid, and replaced by new British passport (since he can't have both)].
3. Has been issued a Chinese Single Entry/Exit permit instead, and as a result his Chinese passport has just been cancelled (since he can't have both).
4. Will travel to China using this permit.
5. Will renounce his Chinese citizenship in China.
6. Will be issued with a second Single Entry/Exit permit in order to legally leave China to return to the UK.
7. At the point of leaving China territory he will effectively then only have British nationality.

[NickUK]

We have a similar problem:

1. Wife is Chinese with UK residency, I am English
2. Child born in China, 2 passports different names
3. Now in UK wishing to return to China for a family visit next summer

The difference I have and an additional problem to face is that I have 2 children in this situation

Has the Chinese Embassy now actually issued the blue travel document?

[Ellicott]

I can sympathise entirely. I have just had a baby girl. My wife is Chinese and I am British. We have a similar situation but in a little reverse. I will be getting both a Chinese Passport for her as we live in China and a British one too for when she is older. But we want to take to the UK for a holiday and show her to my side of the family. In order to try and work around the backward issues of vast majority of the world recognises dual citizenship and unfortunately the we live in doesn't yet. We are planning to go to Hong Kong on her Chinese passport. The fly out from Hong Kong to the UK on her British passport and then 2 weeks or so later return doing the same thing. Now I am pretty sure thats the only work around of doing it without the hassle and worry of obtaining visas.
Does anyone know if this would feasibly work? Or even better have done something or know of someone doing something similar?

[yesmaybe]

Ash4uk, your post exactly resembles my story, except three years hence. I would be extremely grateful for you to explain how your son travels to China. The name in his UK and China passports are different and I trusted this would be enough to fool the China Embassy when applying for a returning visa, but presumably not. When we left China we travelled via a third country. That was over a year ago and I worry that if we simply show his Chinese passport to immigration on arrival they will notice he has been living abroad without any valid entry stamps in his Chinese passport. Awaiting your news

[michaelsimpson57]

Our case is slightly different. Our daughter was born after 18 months of our marriage in the UK. I am British, but at the time my wife was Chinese. Our daughter has a British passport, has an English name and was born in England. But when my daughter was born my wife did not have indefinite leave to remain, only a limited leave to remain. She got indefinite leave 8 months later. That was 10 years ago. Now we are all British and decided to visit my wife's family in China. I went to the Visa Centre with 3 applications. I was told that my daughter required a travel document that she has to obtain in the Chinese Consulate and I should bring her with me. They gave us a web address that we could not use to fill all the details because it referred to people to had Chinese name and needed to obtain passports. My wife, my daughter and I decided to go to the Chinese Consulate. There we were told that my wife had to create a Chinese name for my daughter and we had to make an appointment on another web site. That enough. We cancelled out trip. Looking at other posts, I see that you cannot win in those circumstances.

[hironics]

I'm in a slightly different situation. My kid lives in UK with me now. She will face dual passport issue when she needs to move back to China though. There are a few different approaches to circumvent dual passport issue (dual nationalities isn't a problem here).

Assuming the subject has both UK and Chinese passports/nationiality,

I. This approach is more traditional. Go through the 3rd party country/region, like Hong Kong or mainland EU. This entails a valid visa in the Chinese passport.
II. This approach is a bit troublesome in one off, but you can chill for a while. Here are the steps. Report lost UK passport to UK border office, then apply a ROA/COE for Chinese passport. Once it's obtained, it will be always valid as long as your Chinese passport is valid (normally 10 yrs for adult). Then reapply UK passport. By now, you should have a UK passport which takes you to over 150 countries visa free, a Chinese passport with COE which permits you go back and forth between China and UK.

Total cost is about £400 in 2018, but you would have no hassles in next 10 yrs. (£45 for a year, not a bad deal)

[Lucia17]

you can get another blue book to leave the country, or a passport with ROA -seems to be the most popular choice (and pretty much the only one as your 2 options are either a passport or ROA, you will not be issued visas even if you tried.

one problem that I haven't figured out yet and would be grateful if anyone can answer- would ROA affect the hukou? We currently still live in China and even though the Chinese passport and ROA is valid only for 5 years I do not want my son to lose his hukou - can anybody help out????

[vinny]

See also Wife has ILR, newborn baby in China, returning to UK.

[Rforinfo]

I'm in a slightly different situation. My kid lives in UK with me now. She will face dual passport issue when she needs to move back to China though. There are a few different approaches to circumvent dual passport issue (dual nationalities isn't a problem here).

Assuming the subject has both UK and Chinese passports/nationiality,

I. This approach is more traditional. Go through the 3rd party country/region, like Hong Kong or mainland EU. This entails a valid visa in the Chinese passport.
II. This approach is a bit troublesome in one off, but you can chill for a while. Here are the steps. Report lost UK passport to UK border office, then apply a ROA/COE for Chinese passport. Once it's obtained, it will be always valid as long as your Chinese passport is valid (normally 10 yrs for adult). Then reapply UK passport. By now, you should have a UK passport which takes you to over 150 countries visa free, a Chinese passport with COE which permits you go back and forth between China and UK.

Total cost is about £400 in 2018, but you would have no hassles in next 10 yrs. (£45 for a year, not a bad deal)

Hi,

I am from the UK and my wife is Chinese and lives in China with my 2 year old daughter who has dual nationality Chinese/UK (although I do realise that China does not recognise dual nationalities). I work overseas in the Middle East and we want to visit the UK. I am considering the Hong Kong option (entering HK from China and travelling to the UK using my daughter’s UK passport) or the EU with a Schengen visa for my wife and daughter in their Chinese passports, then entering the UK from the EU. My wife already has a 10 year UK multiple entry visit visa for the UK.

The question I have for your post is;
What is a ROA/COE? Where is it issued.

It is a shame that China does not recognise dual nationalities. I understand that they are clamping down on corruption but this has negative impacts for normal citizens.
Any comments or assistance would be much appreciated.

[Rforinfo]

I can sympathise entirely. I have just had a baby girl. My wife is Chinese and I am British. We have a similar situation but in a little reverse. I will be getting both a Chinese Passport for her as we live in China and a British one too for when she is older. But we want to take to the UK for a holiday and show her to my side of the family. In order to try and work around the backward issues of vast majority of the world recognises dual citizenship and unfortunately the we live in doesn't yet. We are planning to go to Hong Kong on her Chinese passport. The fly out from Hong Kong to the UK on her British passport and then 2 weeks or so later return doing the same thing. Now I am pretty sure thats the only work around of doing it without the hassle and worry of obtaining visas.
Does anyone know if this would feasibly work? Or even better have done something or know of someone doing something similar?

Hi,

I am in a similar situation my daughter has dual nationalities UK/China and my wife is Chinese with a 10 year multiple entry visa for the UK.
We want to visit the UK and are considering the Hong Kong option. Did you manage to achieve this?
Any information would be gratefully received.
The other option would be to obtain Schengen visa for my wife and daughter’s Chinese passport and the travel to the UK via the EU.
How annoying .
Thank you

[Rforinfo]

I can sympathise entirely. I have just had a baby girl. My wife is Chinese and I am British. We have a similar situation but in a little reverse. I will be getting both a Chinese Passport for her as we live in China and a British one too for when she is older. But we want to take to the UK for a holiday and show her to my side of the family. In order to try and work around the backward issues of vast majority of the world recognises dual citizenship and unfortunately the we live in doesn't yet. We are planning to go to Hong Kong on her Chinese passport. The fly out from Hong Kong to the UK on her British passport and then 2 weeks or so later return doing the same thing. Now I am pretty sure thats the only work around of doing it without the hassle and worry of obtaining visas.
Does anyone know if this would feasibly work? Or even better have done something or know of someone doing something similar?

Hi,
We are in a similar situation. My wife who is a Chinese citizen holding a Chinese passport with a 10 year multiple entry visa for the UK. I am from the UK but I am currently working in the Middle East. My wife and 2 year old daughter currently live in Beijing. My daughter has a UK and Chinese passport and we want to visit the UK. The translated English name in the Chinese passport is spelled differently to her UK passport which complicates matters more.
We are also considering the Hong Kong option by using the Chinese passport to and from HK and the UK passport to and from the UK.
Did you achieve this? It would be great to hear from you.
Any info that you can share would be greatly appreciated.

[heyryy]

I can sympathise entirely. I have just had a baby girl. My wife is Chinese and I am British. We have a similar situation but in a little reverse. I will be getting both a Chinese Passport for her as we live in China and a British one too for when she is older. But we want to take to the UK for a holiday and show her to my side of the family. In order to try and work around the backward issues of vast majority of the world recognises dual citizenship and unfortunately the we live in doesn't yet. We are planning to go to Hong Kong on her Chinese passport. The fly out from Hong Kong to the UK on her British passport and then 2 weeks or so later return doing the same thing. Now I am pretty sure thats the only work around of doing it without the hassle and worry of obtaining visas.
Does anyone know if this would feasibly work? Or even better have done something or know of someone doing something similar?

Hi,
We are in a similar situation. My wife who is a Chinese citizen holding a Chinese passport with a 10 year multiple entry visa for the UK. I am from the UK but I am currently working in the Middle East. My wife and 2 year old daughter currently live in Beijing. My daughter has a UK and Chinese passport and we want to visit the UK. The translated English name in the Chinese passport is spelled differently to her UK passport which complicates matters more.
We are also considering the Hong Kong option by using the Chinese passport to and from HK and the UK passport to and from the UK.
Did you achieve this? It would be great to hear from you.
Any info that you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Hey all,

Me and my Chinese wife are also at a crossroads. We have chosen Chinese citizenship for our twins arriving in less than a month, but wondered if there has been any update regarding the situation when travelling back to the UK for a holiday. We intend to put both Chinese and English name on birth certificates, and use a combination of both on British passport, for example, Amelia Robinson Qiu.
Any help would be really appreciated!