Having a baby in China.

Can anyone offer any advice?


I am British, my fiance Chinese national.

Next year after getting married we will have a baby. I prefer to have the baby registered as British to make travelling easier, BUT does that mean that i will have to get visas for the baby? The baby will be born in China.

I know you cannot get dual nationality with China. I sent an email to the embassy asking them but they just say contact other people who i can't even find contact details for :S

Would it be easier just to register the baby as Chinese and pay for visas when travelling to England? We will live and work in China.

This issue has been discussed time and time again. You are right in that China does not recognize dual nationality and that if you register your child as a British citizen you will have to obtain both an exit permit and, should you bring her back to China at some point, a visa to return.


One problem with the child being only Chinese is that some countries (i.e. USA) will not issue a visa to a person who is otherwise a US citizen. Also, some countries criminalize the act of their citizens (i.e. USA) leaving or departing the country on a foreign passport.


Then there's always the issue of how difficult it generally is to get a visa in the first place for Chinese passport holders.


There are one or two methods for the child to be able to hold British and Chinese citizenship, though, but one method is illegal and the other is complicated.

When i asked the visa section they gave me the following information ...


British Children on Chinese Passports in China - new information



This information concerns children who hold both a British and a Chinese passport. This could apply in the following circumstances:


If the child has one British parent and one Chinese parent who are married to each other

If the parents are not married but the child was born after 1 July 2006


A child born in China in either one of the aforementioned situations, is considered to be a Chinese National by the Chinese authorities. The child can therefore be registered on the family book and will be eligible to apply for a Chinese passport.


IMPORTANT!


If the child wishes to travel to the UK and was born in China but not in Beijing, the following applies if he/she is the holder of a British passport:


Relinquish the British passport and submit this to the Consular Section with a sworn declaration. The passport will then be cancelled.

Submit an application to the Visa Section for a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode (C of E) in the Chinese passport.


If the child was born in Beijing


An application can be made at the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau for the child to obtain a one time exit visa on the British passport.


Great care has been taken to ensure that the information presented here is accurate, but these notes are not exhaustive and prospective parents are advised to contact the British Embassy in Beijing for confirmation of the child’s nationality status. The British Embassy will not accept any liability for any error contained on this website nor will any correspondence be entered into.


Is that the illegal or complicated method :S Why couldn't the governments make things easier on us??

I think the best option is just to make the child British and get visas every 1-2 years. Troublesome, i must say!

Why wouldn't the Chinese government (or any government) make it easier on us? Come on, you know the answer to that one. :)


I guess getting the child a visa to enter and stay in China on a British passport is ok, but some people want the option of their child choosing which nationality best serves their purposes in the future. So, some peole get both passports, but never let China know their child has another nationality so that the Chinese gov't will not cancel the kid's Chinese citizenship. This is what a lot of Chinese people do who have immigrated abroad. The trick, though, is that your child needs to leave and exit China on a Chinese passport always via a third country -- or Hong Kong.


There remains an illegal method, but I shan't post it here.