A 19-year-old stuck for two years

Around Spring Festival I took on a case. A boy was born in South Korea to a Korean father and a Chinese mother. After his birth he moved to China with his parents and attended school there through high school on a Korean passport and a student visa. Everyone — including him and his parents — assumed he was Korean.

When he went to renew his visa at 18, the public security bureau told him that after a nationality determination, he had Chinese nationality as well as Korean. But because he was over 18, they would not register a hukou for him, so he had no ID card and could not get a Chinese passport. All he had was a Korean passport — and since he had been determined to be a Chinese citizen, they could not put a Chinese visa or student visa in it either.

The result: he could not keep studying in China, and he could not return to Korea on his Korean passport, because it had no visa and he had no valid document in China at all. Under the rules, the police should have issued him a one-time exit-entry permit (一次性出入境通行证) so he could leave and go back to Korea. But the local officers said in unison: “You’re over 18. People over 18 can’t get a one-time exit-entry permit.”

So he was stuck. The police came up with a workaround: have him fill in an application to renounce Chinese nationality and go through renunciation. That took two years and still has no result. A 19-year-old lost two golden years and could not go back to Korea for university.

Then he came to me. All we did was call the National Immigration Administration’s complaint line. The police accepted his application for a one-time exit-entry permit the same day; seven days later he had the document and returned to Korea to prepare for university.

First: what is “nationality conflict”?

Under the Nationality Law of the PRC, a person born abroad to one or two Chinese-citizen parents has Chinese nationality — unless the Chinese parent had settled abroad. Many countries (such as the US, South Korea and Spain) grant nationality by birth, so the child automatically acquires that country’s nationality too. A child who thus holds both Chinese and foreign nationality has “nationality conflict”.

Nationality conflict is not unlawful “dual nationality”; it is an objective overlap caused by different countries’ nationality laws. China does not require these children to “choose one at 18”; instead it provides travel documents and other facilities so they can move normally between their two identities.

The legal basis for exit-entry permits sets no age limit

The National Immigration Administration’s online Service Guide for Issuing Exit-Entry Permits is clear: “An exit-entry permit may be applied for due to nationality conflict, or where a Hong Kong or Macao resident has lost their Mainland Travel Permit while in the mainland.”

Note the wording: it says only “due to nationality conflict”, not “under 18”. Nowhere in the guide is there any restriction on people aged 18 or over. The idea that “you can’t get a one-time exit-entry permit after 18” is a front-desk misreading of policy with no legal basis.

The permit is issued under the Passport Law of the PRC, the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the PRC and the Measures for the Issuance of Ordinary Passports and Exit-Entry Permits, among others. Applications are accepted by “exit-entry administrations of public security organs of local governments at or above county level entrusted by the National Immigration Administration” — in other words, apply to the county-level-or-above exit-entry office where your hukou is registered or where you live.

Processing time is generally 15 days from acceptance, or 5 working days if expedited. A single-trip exit-entry permit costs RMB 15. For an application based on nationality conflict, submit the application form, photos, identity documents and evidence of the nationality conflict as the guide requires.

Why “no permit after 18” is wrong

The myth probably persists because the permit’s rules are confused with those of the Travel Document or other documents, or because front desks follow outdated practice and “apply strict scrutiny” to adults with nationality conflict. But strict scrutiny is not the same as a legal prohibition.

Adults can have nationality conflict too — like the boy in this case, determined to be Chinese as an adult yet unable to leave because he had no Chinese document. The law protects his right to leave, and the one-time exit-entry permit is exactly the statutory tool for breaking that deadlock. Refusing to issue it infringes a Chinese citizen’s legitimate rights.

What to do if the window refuses

If you or a family member are an adult with nationality conflict and your application for a one-time exit-entry permit is refused on grounds such as “over age”, you can:

  • Ask the window to provide the written basis for non-acceptance or refusal (a decision of non-approval) and see exactly which provision it cites.
  • Call the National Immigration Administration’s 12367 service hotline to enquire or complain, explain the situation and ask the higher authority to check the policy.
  • Rely on the rights of the administrative counterparty set out in the service guide: you may make representations and defend yourself against an administrative licensing decision, and you may apply for administrative reconsideration or file an administrative lawsuit.
  • Keep your written application, receipts and any written refusal as evidence for later steps.

In the case above, one call to 12367 led to acceptance the same day and the permit within 7 days.

A reminder from Wang Xin’s team

An officer’s verbal answer is not the law. When what the window says conflicts with the written rules, the law and the documents prevail. For people with nationality conflict — minors or adults — there is no legal age limit on one-time exit-entry permits. If you are blocked or refused, don’t give up or fall back on renunciation; verify the policy first and raise it with the higher authority.

If you or your family face issues with nationality conflict, exit-entry documents, renunciation or restoration of nationality, contact Wang Xin: phone +86 186-0113-9509, WeChat wang223040.

Quick answers

Is there an age limit for a one-time exit-entry permit for people with nationality conflict?
No. The National Immigration Administration’s service guide simply says a permit may be issued “due to nationality conflict”; it contains no restriction on people aged 18 or over.
How long does an exit-entry permit take and what does it cost?
Generally issued within 15 days of acceptance, or within 5 working days if expedited. A single-trip exit-entry permit costs RMB 15.
What can you do if the window refuses to accept the application?
Ask for the written decision and its legal basis, call the National Immigration Administration hotline 12367 to complain, and use the rights to make representations, apply for administrative reconsideration or file an administrative lawsuit. Keep all receipts and written refusals.

This is an English edition of Wang Xin’s original Chinese article, 国籍冲突的孩子成年了，还能办一次性出入境通行证吗？. 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.