All About China > Visas, Immigration and Emigration

How to stop being Chinese (in the most Chinese way)

<< < (2/2)

Philip:

--- Quote from: Pineau on April 03, 2013, 09:19:46 am --- Is this the LAW or just the opinion of some local creep?

This is a load of crap. He is your kid. He is British. Holds a British passport.  So who cares what the Chinese think? The British Consulate has nothing to say about this?   

 I guess I just don't understand. Why would the British consulate issue a passport to him if there was an issue. Are these "Chinese" immigration officials or just local assholes/trouble makers? Who are "THEY" and what authority do they carry?

--- End quote ---
Gerry. It's the law. As far as British nationality law is concerned, he is automatically British by descent, and he will always be, because I was born in Britain. His children will not automatically be British, unless they are born there. Anyway, he can take advantage of that right anytime he likes. But that is completely separate from how the Chinese view nationality. My son is default Chinese, which does not cause any problems for him in China. But to leave China for any reason, there are only 2 options: 1. Get an exit/entry permit, which is a one-shot deal, and go through the process I am going through now with the British passport, visa and nationality renunciation or 2. get him a hukou, then a Chinese passport with a UK visa (if the authorities then found you had a British passport as well, they would ask for it to be destroyed).
Neil, school-wise, with the first option, my son has a free place in the international school I work for, so the lack of hukou won't be an issue. For healthcare, paying unsubsidised prices is still pretty inexpensive. For the 2nd option, he could go to a local school for little money, but I wouldn't recommend the Chinese school system.
But ultimately, I had to think about where our family will be living in a few years, as our son grows up, and plan accordingly. We will move to Britain in a few years (God help us!). It could be a wasteland by then, but I will have a little nest egg, he will have better educational and life opportunities there, I will be around will my aging parents, family and friends, and close to our beautiful French house. Also, my 2 stepchildren will be set up in China for university. As a side-note, the more occasions our family can visit the relatives in Britain, the more likelihood of my wife's settlement visa application being successful.
And Ron, this is not really a job for James Bond. This situation more closely resembles scenes from one of the 19th century novels by the French author, Balzac, provincial stories of petty greed and corruption. This is about the Chinese people and their tortuous relationship with money. Most of my wife's family are characters from a 19th century novel, probably by Dickens. I could write a book.

Willy The Londoner:
You brought back distant memories of traveling around Hunan, especially Hemgyang to get things 'official' things down.  That was my wife's hukou until we bought a home in Zhongshan which thankfully is a bit more cosmopolitan than Hengyang.  But I fully understand the way of life in that province.

Willy

Pineau:
Sorry I quest your motives. It just didn't make sense to me that the Chinese would overrule a British law.

As for Hunan, I am familiar with the goings on there as well. That is Where Jing is from . I know about and have had occasion to expedite business dealings, paperwork, and official approvals.  A couple cartons of cigarettes, a liter of fine alcohol and an expensive lunch goes a long way toward getting things done.  Swisher sweet Cigars are a favorite there. They are like candy. And it didn't hurt to have relatives in the police and Changsha government administration.
 Sorry for the interruption..... carry on. 

Rhonald:

--- Quote from: Philip on April 03, 2013, 08:15:41 pm ---[And Ron, this is not really a job for James Bond. This situation more closely resembles scenes from one of the 19th century novels by the French author, Balzac, provincial stories of petty greed and corruption. This is about the Chinese people and their tortuous relationship with money. Most of my wife's family are characters from a 19th century novel, probably by Dickens. I could write a book.

--- End quote ---

Yes I can see the idea you suggest as more appropriate of a setting. My thinking was influenced by reading up upon the Master Nationality Law when one paragraph hinted at the spy scenario:

During the Cold War era, the United States signed consular agreements with certain Warsaw Pact countries providing that a U.S. citizen who entered that country with a U.S. passport and the appropriate visa would not be subsequently treated as a citizen of that country (and hence prevented from leaving).[3] The Warsaw Pact countries involved (notably Poland) wished to encourage tourism from emigrants and their descendants settled in the U.S. Since the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991, many of those countries have abolished visa requirements for U.S. citizens thus nullifying those provisions (for detailed discussion see under Dual citizenship of Poland).

We have a small town near Calgary called Balzac, and when I researched the name :

A Canadian Pacific Railway station began operating at Balzac in 1910. It was named by William Cornelius Van Horne, then president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, after one of his favourite authors, Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) a noted French novelist.

You now have me intrigued Alex as I might peruse his prose. Now with my wife learning English, we frequent the library on a regular bases and it has kindled my interst in books. Since I recall Willy bring up the tour de France before in the sporting section, right now I am reading The Secret Race about Tyler Hamilton. A very enjoyable read, I must say about the world of spoke spooks  8)

Keep us in the loop Alex with your on going circut, and soon we hope your problems are resolved with you wearing the yellow Jersey.

shaun:
It's always something!!!!!  :-\

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page