Chinese citizenship

[beijingjj]

Just curious, and sorry if this has (most likely) been discussed many times before.

 

What have people's spouses done with their Chinese citizenship once they attain U.S. citizenship? I'm pretty sure that neither country legally lets you keep both. What if your spouse has renounced her Chinese citizenship and wants to go back for an extended visit. Are visas a problem? And not to be morbid, but I have occassionally wondered, if something were to happen to me in the future and she decides she wants to go back to China permanently, would she be out of luck having given up her citizenship?

 

Thanks.

[beijingjj]

But would China actually know? What's to stop her from entering China on her Chinese passport?

[Jim - Portland, USA]

What's to stop her from entering China on her Chinese passport?

If she is a Chinese citizen, obviously she would enter China with her (only) her Chinese passport. No problem.

 

If she is a US citizen, then US law mandates that US citizens travel abroad using their US passports. So ... as a US citizen ... if she were to travel to China using a Chinese passport, she would be breaking US law, which is punishable by death. Just kidding. It's punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. Seriously.

 

How would the Feds ever find out that she traveled to China on her Chinese passport and not US passport? Easy - the stamps. If she enters China with Chinese passport - that's obviously where the entry stamps go. But later if she tries entering the US with her Chinese passport, obviously they'll ask for her visa. When she says she doesn't need a visa because she is a US citizen, they'll ask to see her US passport, and when they fail to see the (Chinese) entry stamps in her US passport then they'll know she broke US law. Then it's go to jail time.

 

It's all the same for the Chinese immigration folks too, only in reverse.

 

Here's a big thing I wrote up about dual-citizenship:

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=7&t=5773&st=15

[Dan R]

Jim that was interesting reading. Thanks for the research.

 

The issues around dual citizenship are surrounded by loyalty and participating in government. Basically most countries want to know they can count on their citizenry in times of war and want to reduce conflicting loyalties. How this is applied in law keeps changing with new legal decisions. The government only allows citizens to work on sensitive projects which dual citizenship disqualifies from. Since WWII this has become complicated by the fact that some countries like Israel do not accept renouncing ones citizenship. Once a citizen always a citizen. This has been the position of many socialist and communist counties which usually have heavy investment in the citizens (education, housing, health etc.). In the old days marrying a Chinese or Russian would have required you to pay back the government before they leave.

 

The other major issue is in a democracy, who is allowed to vote? Should people with divided loyalties be allowed to vote. Prior to 1980's it was thought dual citizenship violated the responsibility of voting because of possible conflicts of interest. The view towards this has changed in the courts as it is recognized that many Americans have divided interests. International business, family ties etc. may all contribute.

 

In the last election both parties recognized the importance of Americans overseas by setting up campaign headquarters in other countries as well as visiting to give campaign speeches.

 

The world is changing. I am sure citizenship issues will change even more before most of our Sos qualify for U.S. citizenship. It is surely something to keep an eye on and consider carefully from multinational angles.