Chinese passport

This article deals with passports issued by the People's Republic of China (PRC). For passports issued by the Republic of China (Taiwan), see Taiwan passport.
People's Republic of China passport
中华人民共和国护照

The front cover of an ordinary Chinese biometric passport since 15 May 2012.
Issued by  China
Type of document Passport
Eligibility requirements Chinese nationals with Hukou residing in Mainland China, or Chinese nationals residing abroad who do not possess permanent resident statuses of Hong Kong or Macau
Expiration 10 years after acquisition for adults aged 16 or over, 5 for children
Cost

¥200 for first passport

¥220 for renewed passport

The People's Republic of China passport (Chinese: 中华人民共和国护照 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó hùzhào), commonly referred to as the Chinese passport, is the passport issued to nationals of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for international travel.

Issued to Chinese nationals with Hukou residing in Mainland China as defined by the PRC's Nationality Law, the passport normally cannot be used by Chinese nationals when travelling solely to Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan. These regions are considered as parts of the PRC by the PRC Government, and thus do not constitute international travel. A Two-way Permit is required for the sole travel between Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, and travelling to Taiwan from Mainland China requires the Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Taiwan for Mainland Residents (commonly known as the Mainland Compatriot Permit). Chinese foreign missions, however, do issue visa-like Hong Kong Entry Permits to PRC nationals residing outside Mainland China upon request, so PRC passport holders can travel solely between Hong Kong and Mainland with passports.

Conversely, PRC nationals and ROC nationals residing in these regions cannot use their SAR passports or Republic of China passports to enter mainland China. Instead, they must use the Home Return Permit, Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents or the Chinese Travel Document as their travel documents when entering Mainland China.

Mainland China residents transiting through Hong Kong or Macau when travelling to other countries may use their passports to enter Hong Kong and Macau for 7 days each. Although ROC National Immigration Agency also accepts PRC passport as a valid travel document, the PRC authorities does not permit PRC nationals to travel solely on their passports when travelling directly to Taiwan from Mainland China. There are ongoing talks between PRC and ROC governments regarding the use of passports with the sole purpose of transiting to or from a third country.

Chinese nationals who are also permanent residents of Hong Kong or Macau Special Administrative Regions of the PRC are issued Hong Kong or Macau SAR passports by the respective immigration departments of the SARs. The SAR passports are different travel documents issued solely by the government of the SARs, and the designs differ greatly from that of the regular PRC passport, albeit all three passports bear the same country and nationality code, CHN. Holders of SAR passports enjoy visa-free entry to many more countries than holders of regular PRC passports due to their highly developed social and economical statuses.

Overview and Contents

Types

According to Articles 3 through 9 of the 2006 Passport Law of the People's Republic of China, there are three types of passports issued by the PRC:

As of December 2011, the Chinese government has already launched biometric diplomatic passports and biometric public affair passports. The launch date of biometric ordinary passports was May 15, 2012.

In 1996, 77% of persons exiting China held a "public affairs" passport.[1] This had dropped to 39% by 2002.[2] Regulations require a "public affairs" passport to be kept in the possession of the holder's work unit[3] such that they must be surrendered by the individual within one month of returning to China.[4]

The passports for Macau and Hong Kong are issued by the special administrative region authorities for these locales and are not covered in this law.

Validity

The passport previously had an across-the-board 5-year period of validity. Since 2007, it is valid for 10 years for bearers above 16 years of age, and for 5 years for bearers below 16 years of age. According to the 2006 Passport Law of the People's Republic of China, renewal of previously issued passports ended on January 1, 2007. However, passports renewed before 2007 remained valid until expiry.

Format

The newest version of the regular Chinese passport is the Biometric Passport, which replaced its predecessors "Form 92", "Form 97-1" and "Form 97-2". It was released to the general public in May 2012. The passport consists of 48 pages.

Ordinary Passport - Inside

Inside page of the Form "97-2" PRC Ordinary Passport.

The "Form 97-2" ordinary Chinese passport is a machine-readable passport. In "97-2", personal data is on the inside front cover along with a coloured photo printed with inkjet printer, with a protection film covering most of the data page. Details include:

Inside page of a PRC Ordinary E-Passport.

In the Biometric Passport, the personal data page was moved to a separate sheet of paper, and the design of personal data page has been amended significantly, adding the full name of PRC in Simplified Chinese and English on top along with an e-passport symbol. New security features include a second image of the holder, the laser-printed world maps and additional holographic graphs including the PRC emblem. The details included are as follows:

Languages

All information is printed in Simplified Chinese and English.

Passport Note

Anti-counterfeiting design in note page glows under black light
中华人民共和国外交部请各国军政机关对持照人予以通行的便利和必要的协助。
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China requests all civil and military authorities of foreign countries to allow the bearer of this passport to pass freely and afford assistance in case of need.
Le Ministère des Affaires Étrangères de la République Populaire de Chine prie les autorites civiles et militaires des pays étrangers de laisser passer librement le titulaire de ce passeport et de lui preter aide et assistance en cas de besoin.

On version "97-1" and "97-2", it is on page 1. On the Biometric version, it is moved to page 3.

Last page

The note on the last page.

The last page has the notes for the passport. For e-passport, inside the backcover, a caution for the biometric chip is written both in Chinese and English:

本护照内置敏感电子元件。为保持最佳性能，请不要将护照折弯、打孔或者暴露在极端温湿度环境中。
This passport contains sensitive electronics. For best performance, please do not bend, perforate or expose to extreme temperatures or excess moisture.
请勿在此盖印 DO NOT STAMP HERE

Alternative travel documents for Chinese Nationals

Fee and processing time

The fee for a Chinese passport is ¥200 and ¥220 for each renewal. Normal processing time is 10 working days when applying from Mainland China, and 15 working days when applying from Chinese diplomatic missions outside Mainland China (including Hong Kong and Macau). Some regions, such as Xinjiang, have stricter rules regarding the application process which requires additional background checks and an invitation letter from abroad or a travel voucher from a tourist agency. In this case, processing time is usually more than 30 business days and could be prolonged.

Visa requirements

Visa-free travel for ordinary PRC ordinary passport holders

Visa requirements for Chinese citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of the People's Republic of China. As of 2015, Chinese citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 45 countries and territories, ranking the PRC passport 83rd in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.

Self-Service Immigration System (e-Gate)

Holders of Chinese Biometric Passports are eligible to use the Self-Service Immigration System, or e-Gates, when arriving from destinations outside Mainland China. E-Gates are located throughout numerous international airports in Mainland China (including the four busiest international gateways: Beijing Capital International Airport, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport) as well as land border crossing checkpoints in Shenzhen and Zhuhai. In order to use the e-Gate, they must hold Biometric passports with their fingerprint data pre-recorded on the biometric chip. If their Biometric passports do not contain fingerprint data, they must first register with China Immigration Inspection (CII) at land border checkpoints or international airports to be eligible. As of July 2015, Biometric passport holders can use the e-Gate when arriving from outside Mainland China, and passengers departing Mainland China must go through the manual immigration inspection process, regardless of whether they hold the Biometric passports or the old machine-readable passports.[5]

Controversy

Vietnam and the Philippines have criticized China's decision to include disputed South China Sea islands on maps printed inside new Chinese passports.[6] These maps also include territory currently disputed with India.[7]

The government has been criticized for denying citizen use of their passports, particularly for those of Tibetan and Uyghur descent.[8]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ↑ China Daily, 24 January 1997
  2. ↑ 2002 National Economic and Social Development Statistics National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China 28 February 2003
  3. ↑ China Weighs Passport Reform Beijing Youth Daily 2 April 2002
  4. ↑ Article 10, Provisional Regulations on the Administration of the Ordinary Passport for Public Affairs
  5. ↑ "细说首都机场边防自助通关". BCIA. November 23, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  6. ↑ "China maps path to new conflicts in its passports". The Age. November 23, 2012. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Here’s the Chinese passport map that’s infuriating much of Asia". The Washington Post. November 26, 2012. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  8. ↑ No Exit: China Uses Passports as Political Cudgel February 22, 2013 NYT

External links

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