Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China
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The Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国国籍法; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國國籍法; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó guójí fǎ) regulates citizenship in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Such citizenship is obtained by birth when at least one parent is of Chinese nationality or by naturalization. The law was adopted at the Third Session of the Fifth National People's Congress and promulgated by Order No. 8 of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and effective as of September 10, 1980. The People's Republic of China does not recognise dual citizenship with any other country.[1]
Articles
Hong Kong and MacauFor Hong Kong residents, the law was adopted at the Nineteenth Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on May 15, 1996,[2] a year prior to the Hong Kong handover and came into effect on July 1, 1997. The explanations concerning the implementation of the nationality of Hong Kong residents is that Hong Kong residents of Chinese descent are Chinese nationals, whether or not they have acquired foreign citizenship(s). Hong Kong residents of Chinese nationality do not lose their citizenship automatically upon acquiring foreign one(s), in contrast to Article 9. Such Chinese citizens who also have foreign citizenship may declare a change of nationality at Hong Kong's Immigration Department, and upon approval, would no longer be considered Chinese citizens. The British Dependent Territories citizen, British Nationals (Overseas) and British Citizen passports held by persons of Chinese descent born in China (including Hong Kong) are not recognized by the Chinese government. Hong Kong citizens who hold such passport or have a right of abode in countries outside the PRC are not entitled to British (or any other nation's) consular protection inside the People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland). Similar implementation for Macau was adopted at the Sixth Session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress on December 29, 1998. Unique provision includes clarification for individuals of both Chinese and Portuguese descent, who may choose either Chinese or Portuguese nationality.
Citizenship by birthChinese nationality law operates mainly on the basis of jus sanguinis ("right of blood"). On 1st October 1949, most people of Chinese nationality acquired PRC nationality. In general, when a person is born in China, that person is a Chinese national if he or she has at least one parent of Chinese nationality, or if both parents are settled in China and are stateless or of "uncertain" nationality. A foreign-born person with at least one parent that is a Chinese national has Chinese nationality so long as that parent has not "settled" in that country. The term "settled" is usually taken to mean that the Chinese national parent has permanent residency in the country concerned. A person born outside China, including those with parent(s) of Chinese nationality, does not have Chinese nationality if a foreign nationality is acquired at birth, if the Chinese national parent has settled abroad. In China, children born of Chinese-foreign marriages are considered to be Chinese citizens by the PRC government, which can cause complications if a foreign passport is subsequently used to exit China. This can also cause complications for citizens of certain countries, particularly of Arab ones, born in the PRC and who may have automatically acquired the Arab citizenship at birth because at least one of their parents is ethnically Arab if not also born in an Arab country. This applies particularly to ethnic Algerians [1], Egyptians, [2] Libyans [3], Mauritanians, [4] Omanis, [5] and Tunisians [6] born in the PRC. Comparison to other countriesThe PRC recognizes persons born in Hong Kong and Macau before and after their handovers as "born in China". These people of ethnic Chinese origin are also PRC citizens. Syria's treatment of ethnic Arabs on its soil is similar, recognizing those eligible for Syrian citizenship, if they do not already have it, as being "born in Syria." This applies even if they were not Syrian-born. [7] France, like China, recognizes nationals born in any of its territorites as its nationals. This also applies to French people born in Corsica which, although not part of the mainland, is part of La Métropole, which is the European part of the country. Unlike China, French nationals, regardless of their place of birth, can travel between the Métropole and its dependencies by using an identity card. See also
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