By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: Strange P.S.B. interview
My daughter was born in the U.K. five and a half years ago,she came to China when she was 14 months old.Her mother is Chinese and was on a Spousal Visa for the U.K when our daughter was born.Every year she has just had a 1 year family Visa.This year during the process they said you can have 2 year family Visa so we said ok.Today at 11 am PSB phoned and asked us to come for an interview.They have said that as my wife did not get British citizenship,and we have lived in China for 4 years and plan on staying here,under International law and Chinese law she should be a Chinese national and doesn;t require visa we should contact home affairs department.Totally gobsmacked
Does your daughter have a UK passport? Have you spoken to the British embassy? Sorry i can't be more helpful but these are just some questions i thought of.
paulmartin:
Yes my daughter has a UK passport,and I'm from the uk maybe 20th generation no Chinese links what so ever,could be 200th generation if that even matters
paulmartin:
Me and my daughter are actually going home on the 2nd of Sept for a family wedding,so maybe ask when in England
Are you an English? If you are an English, your wife can apply English green card. Or you want to change your citizenship into Chinese?
paulmartin:
My wife can't apply for UK citizenship while living in China,we don;t have green cards in the UK
I think what the PSB is trying to say is that if your Child has been living in China for over 4 years and going on 5 years, so she qualified for a green card, because her mom is Chinese.
As long as she was born in the U.K and has her first ever ENTRY Stamp coming into China your child is safe. Just make sure you have the birth certificate handy.
A case like this will always start with the entry stamp.
paulmartin:
I think your right,first entry was as a UK citizen,so no country as the right to change it,but they are saying as the mother is Chinese,and she didn;t gain citizenship and the child has lived in China for 4 years and plans to stay here,she was just a visitor in forieign country,so her children are Chinese
But I would like you to inform all us on what happens so we can learn what happened and what others can do someday,
paulmartin:
I will do,maybe its a way of closeing the Hong Kong route,for Chinese parents,and we happen to fall into this branch as well
Paul,
Whose passport is the child on? Does he/she have his/her own passport? I think you said you have a daughter.
I believe children have to have their own passports now - not be on their parent's.
I have a son. He has his own passport. I can tell you he was born there in China, not here in England (I am home now).
Under British law, the mother is never an Automatic British National. The child, if born in the UK, is. If born in CHina, the child is a British National, but you have to apply. The mother only becomes a British National after going through all the visa processes to obtain the Right to Remain in the UK regardless of whether you are married or not.
I am not sure if the mother can obtain British nationality without you two being married. Also, despite having a child, you both need to meet all the criteria; home, job, money for her to get it.
As your daughter was born in the UK, she will always be British. The Chinese can't take that away from her unless you agree which means having to give up her British ID because the Chinese don't allow dual nationality.
As Ironman says, the entry stamp in the British passport will make this stand up in favour of being British.
What the PSB mean is that, if the child is born in China, after a certain amount of time, the child assumes CHinese nationality automatically, but this is only if you haven't applied for and obtained alternative/other nationality status.
It was worked out,in the end.My daughter was born in the U.K. well Jersey,Channel Islands,she was just given a 2 year visa,but we had too have birth certificate,verified by U.K. Embassy
any further news on this , i have a baby to be born in October ?
Hotwater:
Why would there be any further news? My understanding of the topic, and his last comment, was that his Daughter kept her UK citizenship and was given a 2-year Chinese visa as a foreigner in China.
Where do you plan to have your baby? From the way you worded your question I would guess you are Chinese. Might be a good idea for you to start your own topic on this. There are a number of people on here who could give advice on citizenship for babies with parents of Chinese and non-Chinese nationalities.
paulmartin:
Hotwater is right,that was the outcome,but I had to go the Chinese Embassy in the UK,with the certified birth certificate
This occurred due to a change in the law in China about dependents of expats living and working in China. Previously all that was required for a child was their birth certificate and having it translated by a certified translation agency. For a spouse it required marriage certificate. In early 2014 the law was changed to state the documentation had to be certified by the Chinese embassy in the country issuing the document (not necessarily your home country).
Example: If I and my spouse are both US citizens, but were married in Thailand, the Chinese embassy in Thailand would have to certify the document.
My son was born when I was in the Army, if I had been stationed overseas at the time, the country in which he was born would have been where the document was certified.
ironman510:
I'm not sure this is a new law or not, my son was born in America. His mom is Chinese and I had to get my son's birth certificate certified 7 years ago. they put a certified sticker on back of the birth certificate. and yes it had to be translated. it still doesn't explain why his child is being required to become a Chinese
