A real case

The child’s father is Maltese and the mother is a Chinese citizen who had not settled abroad; she travelled to the United States to give birth. Born in the US, the child acquired US nationality; because the mother was a Chinese citizen not settled abroad, the child also had Chinese nationality by law. But the child then travelled for years on a US passport, and the Chinese Embassy in Malta at one point refused to issue the child a Travel Document on the ground that it “could not confirm the mother’s settlement status in the US”.

The legal basis for determining nationality

Under the Nationality Law of the PRC, a person born abroad whose parents are both Chinese citizens, or one of whose parents is, does not have Chinese nationality if a Chinese parent had settled abroad and the person acquired foreign nationality at birth. If one or both parents are Chinese citizens and none of them had settled abroad, the person has Chinese nationality at birth — even if they also hold a foreign nationality. Whether the child ever applied for a Chinese visa on a foreign passport does not affect this determination.

Breaking the “cannot confirm” deadlock

In this case, the mother eventually applied for a nationality determination to the exit-entry administration of the public security bureau in her own hukou city — Yantai, Shandong Province. After the police verified facts such as that she held no US green card and had not settled in Europe when the child was born, they issued a certificate confirming the child’s Chinese nationality. With it, the child’s Travel Document was renewed in Malta without difficulty, and it has been renewed every two years since.

Where to apply for a nationality determination

You can apply at a Chinese embassy or consulate abroad, or return to China and apply to the exit-entry administration of the city-level public security bureau where your hukou is registered. Each route has pros and cons; it is worth assessing which suits your situation in advance.

How Wang Xin’s team can help

  • Nationality determination applications for children of cross-border families
  • Chinese Travel Documents and passports for children born abroad
  • Coordinating dual-nationality disputes
  • Advice on cross-border identity planning

If your child is having trouble with a nationality determination or a Travel Document, contact Wang Xin: phone +86 186-0113-9509, WeChat wang223040.

Quick answers

Does a child born abroad to a Chinese parent have Chinese nationality?
If at least one parent is a Chinese citizen and neither parent had settled abroad when the child was born, the child has Chinese nationality at birth — even if the child also acquired a foreign nationality at birth.
Does using a foreign passport with a Chinese visa change the child’s nationality?
No. Whether the child has entered China on a foreign passport with a Chinese visa does not affect the nationality determination itself.
Where can you apply for a Chinese nationality determination?
Either at a Chinese embassy or consulate abroad, or in China at the exit-entry department of the city-level public security bureau where the Chinese parent’s hukou is registered.

This is an English edition of Wang Xin’s original Chinese article, 父母一方是中国人，孩子在国外出生就没有中国籍了吗？. It explains the law of the People’s Republic of China in general terms and is not legal advice for any particular case; outcomes depend on the specific facts and on how local authorities apply the rules.