The short answer

  • Chinese law only regulates who handles “renunciation of Chinese nationality” and how; it does not authorise any Chinese authority to process “renunciation of a foreign nationality”. That pledge is not a renunciation document: it cannot make the person actually lose US nationality, and it does not change their Chinese nationality.
  • The person is Chinese under Article 5 of the Nationality Law — one parent is a Chinese citizen, the parents had not settled abroad, and a person born abroad in those circumstances has Chinese nationality. This runs in parallel with US birthright citizenship, creating nationality conflict.
  • The risk rises after switching to a passport because of how the system works: under Article 5 of the Passport Law, an ordinary passport is applied for at the exit-entry office where the hukou is registered, with the ID card and hukou booklet, so it is naturally tied to household registration. Travel Documents are issued and renewed through the foreign-affairs system and have nothing to do with hukou.
  • What actually blocks people is usually not the pledge itself, but that the record it leaves contradicts later documents — the system shows “declared renunciation of foreign nationality”, while the person keeps using the foreign passport normally.
  • If you have signed and are now stuck, you can ask the authority to give reasons and a written decision — but don’t submit further documents that contradict your earlier statement. Obtaining a passport by fraud can lead to confiscation or invalidation of the passport and a fine (Article 17 of the Passport Law).

The situation, roughly

The person is 30, born in the US, with a hukou in Beijing. As an adult he travelled in and out of China for years on a “Travel Document + US passport”, and studying, working and getting an ID card all went smoothly. During the pandemic it became hard to renew documents abroad, so instead of renewing the Travel Document he applied for a Chinese passport. He was told: you hold a US passport and are an adult; you can have the passport, but you must write a pledge declaring that you voluntarily renounce US nationality. He wrote it and got the passport. Years later, applying for another document in a different city, he was told that the Beijing system had a flag on his nationality status and that the local office would write to Beijing to verify. Not wanting to escalate things, he withdrew the application.

These facts come from the person’s own account and have not been checked against files or system records; they are used only to illustrate the legal issues, not as findings of fact.

What is that pledge in Chinese law?

Acquisition, loss and restoration of Chinese nationality are all governed by the Nationality Law of the PRC, which provides only two ways to lose Chinese nationality.

Article 9: “Any Chinese national who has settled abroad and who has been naturalised as a foreign national or has acquired foreign nationality of his own free will shall automatically lose Chinese nationality.”

Article 10: “Chinese nationals who meet one of the following conditions may renounce Chinese nationality upon approval of their applications: (1) they are near relatives of foreign nationals; (2) they have settled abroad; or (3) they have other legitimate reasons.”

The procedure is equally clear. Article 14: “Persons who wish to acquire, renounce or restore Chinese nationality, with the exception of the cases provided for in Article 9, shall go through the formalities of application.” Article 16: “Applications for naturalisation as Chinese nationals and for renunciation or restoration of Chinese nationality are subject to examination and approval by the Ministry of Public Security of the PRC. The Ministry of Public Security shall issue a certificate to any person whose application has been approved.”

(The following is my synthesis, not statutory text.) What Chinese authorities can handle is how a person renounces Chinese nationality, with approval and a certificate from the Ministry of Public Security. Whether someone still holds a foreign nationality, and whether they should give it up, is a matter for foreign law and foreign authorities; Chinese police have no power to determine or process it. The hand-written statement effects no change in nationality; in practice it only goes on file.

Actually renouncing US nationality follows US law: the person appears in person at a US embassy or consulate abroad, signs an oath of renunciation, and the US Department of State issues a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (DS-4083) on payment of a fee (according to a State Department announcement in March 2026, reduced from USD 2,350 to USD 450). That is a completely different thing from writing a note for the Chinese police.

Why the trouble appears only after switching to a passport

The difference is whether the two systems are linked to household registration. Article 5 of the Passport Law of the PRC: “Citizens going abroad for non-official purposes such as settling, visiting relatives, studying, employment, travel or business shall apply for an ordinary passport to the exit-entry administration of the public security organ of the local government at or above county level where their household is registered.” Article 4 of the implementing Measures for the Issuance of Ordinary Passports and Exit-Entry Permits (Ministry of Public Security Order No. 96, amended by Order No. 118) requires applicants to submit a resident ID card and hukou booklet; among the grounds for refusal listed in Article 17 of those Measures, the first is “not having PRC nationality”.

Article 26 of the same Measures: “Citizens who renounce Chinese nationality shall return their ordinary passports and exit-entry permits to the exit-entry administration of the public security organ, or to a PRC embassy or consulate abroad or another overseas agency entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” Conversely, as long as a person has not lawfully renounced Chinese nationality, there is no duty to surrender the Chinese passport — and this person never applied to renounce, nor did any authority approve it.

Travel Documents follow a different line: they are issued and renewed by Chinese embassies and consulates abroad and by the Commissioner’s Offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong and Macao, and are not linked to hukou or ID cards (this sentence summarises the application process; the public legal text that mentions Travel Documents directly is Article 23 of the Passport Law, which concerns citizens on short trips abroad whose passports are lost, stolen or damaged. The issuing basis for Travel Documents held by people with nationality conflict lies in the foreign ministry’s document rules, and I could not verify the complete text publicly. For the overall differences between the documents see Passport, Travel Document or Green Card?).

“Automatic loss of Chinese nationality” is not that automatic

Article 9 requires two things together: the person is “a Chinese national who has settled abroad”, and the act is “voluntarily naturalising or acquiring foreign nationality”. This person returned to China after university to live and work long-term, so he is not “settled abroad”; and his US nationality was acquired at birth under US law, not “acquired” later. Article 9 does not apply to him.

More fundamentally, there is Article 5: a person born abroad to one or two Chinese-citizen parents who had not settled abroad has Chinese nationality. China does not recognise dual nationality (Article 3), but “does not recognise” means not recognising the foreign layer — not automatically deleting the Chinese nationality. Losing Chinese nationality still requires meeting Article 9, or applying under Article 10 with Ministry approval and a certificate; nor does it disappear automatically when a child turns 18 (see Must a Dual-National Child Choose One Nationality at 18? and Do You Automatically Lose Chinese Nationality When You Become a Foreign Citizen?).

What can a person do once stuck?

  • Ask for written reasons first. Article 6(2) of the Passport Law provides that where a passport is not issued because the requirements are not met, the authority “shall explain the reasons in writing and inform the applicant of the right to apply for administrative reconsideration or bring an administrative lawsuit according to law”. That provision concerns passport applications, but relying on it to ask for “a written reply and the available remedies” is a workable step in practice when faced with verbal discouragement and a reluctance to put anything in writing (my synthesis).
  • Don’t write any more pledges that don’t match the facts. Article 17 of the Passport Law: “Whoever fraudulently obtains a passport by deception shall have the passport confiscated or declared invalid by the issuing authority, and be fined between RMB 2,000 and 5,000 by the public security organ; where a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued according to law.” Next time you are asked to “declare renunciation of a certain nationality”, first ask whether it is a legal requirement or just the window’s practice, then decide what to write.
  • If you have already signed, keep the records and explain truthfully. Keep the original application form and acceptance receipt; if asked later, explain the objective circumstances of the document switch at the time, and don’t pile on new statements.
  • Don’t cancel your hukou voluntarily. Articles 8, 10, 11 and 12 of the Regulations on Household Registration list the grounds for cancellation as death, moving out, conscription and arrest — “settling abroad” or “holding a foreign passport” is not among them (see also Do You Have to Cancel Your Hukou After Getting a Foreign Green Card?).
  • Don’t mix documents when crossing borders. Mixing keeps generating new records and turns what was only a contradiction on file into an explicit conflict in the system (see Holding Both a Chinese and a Foreign Passport: Which One Should You Use?).

Limitations

The facts come from the person’s own account and have not been checked against files or system records. The provisions quoted are from the current texts; the official published versions prevail. For claims such as “a certain department’s work rules require hukou cancellation”, I could not find the original text publicly and can only state them as practical experience. Practice on reissuing passports to people with nationality conflict varies by locality; whether a similar case will be flagged or affect other documents must be checked with the handling authority case by case. This article is not legal advice on any specific case.

Conclusion

The Travel Document and the Chinese passport are not “temporary” and “permanent” versions of the same thing; they belong to two different management systems — one unconnected to hukou, the other premised on it. What really needs protecting is not one particular document, but the whole bundle of being “a Chinese citizen living long-term in China” — supported by hukou, ID card, social insurance and school records. Any statement written to get a document may be remembered by the system for years. If you or your family face questions about which document to use, nationality determinations or blocked applications, contact Wang Xin: phone +86 186-0113-9509, WeChat wang223040.

Quick answers

Does a pledge to renounce foreign nationality, signed at a Chinese police office, actually end the foreign nationality?
No. Chinese law only governs renouncing Chinese nationality; no Chinese authority is empowered to process renunciation of a foreign nationality. The pledge changes neither the US nationality nor the Chinese nationality — it only creates a record.
Why do problems appear after switching to a Chinese passport but not with a Travel Document?
Under Article 5 of the Passport Law, ordinary passports are issued by the exit-entry office where the hukou is registered, using the ID card and hukou booklet, so they are tied to household registration. Travel Documents are issued through the foreign-affairs system and are not linked to hukou.
What should you do if you signed such a pledge and are now blocked?
Ask for a written decision with reasons and remedies (Passport Law Article 6), don’t submit further statements that contradict the facts (false statements can lead to confiscation and fines under Article 17), keep your old records, don’t cancel your hukou voluntarily, and don’t mix documents when crossing borders.

This is an English edition of Wang Xin’s original Chinese article, 把旅行证换成中国护照，那张「退出外国国籍」承诺书算不算数？. 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.