As seen on Sinocism: Yesterday, Sina News reported that the PSB will crack down on dual citizenships, namely “people who obtain citizenship in another country but try to keep their Chinese citizenship and hukou.” However, this move is also likely to affect mixed-nationality families.
Though China doesn’t technically allow dual citizenships, the law hasn’t always been enforced. In 2010, I was shocked to learn during my student visa application that I still had a hukou in Chongqing – even though I’d grown up in Canada and was a Canadian citizen. I ended up having to travel to Chongqing to renounce my hukou in person.
Until now, the Chinese-born children of mixed families – where one parent holds a foreign passport and the other holds a Chinese passport – existed in a legal gray area. My colleague Jerry Chan, a longtime Beijinger and dad of two bi-national children, has written extensively about his family’s bureaucratic hassles on beijingkids. Click here and here for some background.
In the past, children with both a hukou and a foreign passport were issued a single entry and exit permit (旅行证, lvxing zhen) for travel. However, if China turns its attention to mixed families in this latest crackdown, these permits would likely be abolished, effectively forcing many parents to renounce their children’s Chinese citizenship.
Though there have been no official announcements specifically regarding mixed-nationality families, one family we know has reported recently being “reminded” by the PSB to deal with their child’s de facto dual citizenship sooner rather than later.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
Photo: Tim Sackton (via Flickr)
