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Asked by Mark from usa | Jan. 27, 2020 10:32

About:Travel Tips

How to get a Chinese visa for my baby born in China to a Chinese wife and an American husband?

I am an American on a Z visa working as a teacher and my wife is a Chinese citizen. We had our baby in August 2019 and we will get his US citizenship and passport. I think we should apply for an S1 visa for him once he has US citizenship. Is that right? And how do we do it? Or should we do something else? And are there any time limits on this? He only has a birth certificate with his name in English on it now and he was born in Beijing. No hukou.

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Answers (3)

Answered by John Doe | Jan. 31, 2020 16:38

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Your kid at this point is most likely a dual national of both China and the US ("most likely" as US citizenship by descent requires you to have resided in the US for more than 5 years before his birth, including two years after age 14), and as a matter of policy China does not recognize dual nationality and hence cannot issue any visas to him unless you both agree to renounce his Chinese nationality on his behalf. You have a few avenues:

The first option is to register your child as a US citizen and renounce his Chinese nationality after receiving his US passport. Keep in mind that he will not be eligible for any social services while in China and you will have to renew his family-based residence permit (not an S visa) every few years (and public schooling is out of the question). If you decide to take this route then you should first apply for his Consular Report of Birth Abroad and his first US passport at the embassy (at which point you will be quizzed about your residence in the US to determine his eligibility for US citizenship). After that you can apply to renounce his Chinese nationality at the National Immigration Administration office and get him a residence permit.

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Answered by John Doe | Jan. 31, 2020 16:46

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The second option is to register him for Hukou first before getting his Consular Report of Birth Abroad. By doing this you will have legalized his Chinese nationality and he no longer needs a residence permit and can get a Chinese passport healthcare and attend schools as locals (subject to hukou restrictions if your wife does not have Hukou in Beijing). This also means he will not be eligible for US consular services while on Chinese territory (the American airlift in Wuhan is obviously out of the question). Adding someone to your wife's hukou is also quite complicated and depends on your wife's hukou (it would be much straightforward if she has hukou in large cities).

To summarize, regardless of which route you want to take, your child will never be eligible for an S visa. To be issued an S visa, both parents must not be (and never been) Chinese nationals. If you want to take the first route then your child will only be eligible for a residence permit.

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Answered by Mark | Feb. 25, 2020 18:59

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Thank you so much, John Doe! Sorry for the late response.

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