To become a naturalized national of ROC (Taiwan), you have to renounce citizenship of your home country, meaning you can’t use their passport.
But to get a Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents, you have to have a ROC National ID card, which only those with Taiwan household registration are eligible for and which takes at least a year (360 days) after becoming a naturalized national to establish and longer if you leave Taiwan before this time.
You can of course get a Taiwanese passport allowing you to travel to Hong Kong, Macao and other countries but not the mainland.
There is the PRC 旅行证, but since that is for those who are defined in the PRC nationality law as Chinese citizens, it would appear that naturalized citizens of Taiwan are not eligible for this document.
So how can freshly minted ROC nationals travel to the mainland before getting a Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents? Is there simply no way to do it unless you’re lucky enough to have another travel document that they recognise in the mainland? Or do they make an exception for those in these circumstances and issue a PRC 旅行证？
You don’t have to give up your existing passport until one year after naturalising, at which point you can apply for household registration.
The authorioties in Taiwan can give you an ROC passport while you wait that year for your ROC ID. However, if you leave The Island for any shore, not just China, your clock will reset, and you will add waiting time -one more whole year. Yes, they understand if you just have to leave. However, you are still “penalized” with extra time.
The issue would be getting a visa, or in this case, the Compatriot permit, to enter China with just the passport. Atogas with ROC ID and passports have no problem entering the Mainland with their Compatriot card, but yes, China will not give you a Compatriot with just passport as it depends on them.
Oh, that’s a good point. But what if you had to leave Taiwan, eg for work, study or a family emergency? The clock resets and then you have to have been in Taiwan for 2 years to get the ROC ID. So say you have to leave Taiwan to go back to your home country. After a year you must give up your foreign nationality, in this case being the nationality of your home country. A year passes (by this stage whether you are in Taiwan or elsewhere is irrelevant), you have renounced your foreign nationality as per the rules and provided the paperwork to the Taiwanese governemnt. All of a sudden an urgent need for you to travel to mainland China NOW arises. Now the only valid travel document you have available to you is your NWOHR passport. You don’t qualify for a stateless person’s travel document because you are not stateless, you can’t get a PRC issued Mainland travel permit because you don’t yet meet the eligibility requirements, and the Taiwanese passport will not get you into the Mainland because it is not recognised by the PRC government.
Which is useless for travel to the Mainland.
You won’t be getting into China, not unless you have another passport or travel document. Also, what about one of the islands in the Taiwan area? Surely going to one of those doesn’t reset your clock.
Then I remembered the Australian Certificate of Identity.
“A non-Australian/non-British citizen in Australia whose government does not have a presence in Australia but who has an urgent need to travel for compassionate circumstances and who can show that his/her government cannot provide a travel document in time to meet his/her travel needs.”
The ROC Taiwan government does have a presence in Australia and they can provide a travel document, but that travel document is not going to meet the requirements of a ROC NWOHR who has an urgent need to travel to mainland China. So I think if you could get to Australia which you can on a NWOHR passport (you’d need a visa) and made your case to the Australian passport office, they would issue an Australian Certificate of Identity which as a valid travel document that the PRC government should recognise you would be able to get a Chinese visa issued in it and travel to Mainland China. You would probably need to answer lots of questions both at the visa application office/Chinese embassy or consulate in Australia and at the border but you would get in.
This is all true, however as you mentioned earlier you would qualify for a PRC travel document. Chinese Travel Document - Wikipedia
No, I said you would not qualify for a PRC travel document. Because you wouldn’t fall under the definition of a Chinese national under the PRC nationality law. And only those who are legally defined as Chinese under the PRC nationality law are eligible for the travel document.
They give the travel document to any Chinese national who does not have a household registration and who applies to an embassy outside of mainland China. They gave one to my son for example. They consider ROC nationals to be Chinese nationals, so I think they should probably give it. Can’t say for sure of course.
If you have a Taiwanese passport and ID, you can get a 台胞證。It’s not a problem.
After becoming naturalised, it takes one year of you not leaving Taiwan or 260 days a year in the last 2 years of you being in Taiwan before you can establish household registration and get your national ID. Before that you don’t have a national ID number and can’t get the 台胞证.[quote=“Liam_Og, post:7, topic:158471”]
They give the travel document to any Chinese national who does not have a household registration and who applies to an embassy outside of mainland China. They gave one to my son for example. They consider ROC nationals to be Chinese nationals, so I think they should probably give it. Can’t say for sure of course.
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I suspected as much. Thanks for the information. Could I ask what are the circumstances surrounding your son? What documents did he have to provide and what was the process?
Another point to consider is that most countries won’t recognize that you have lost your original citizenship until you have gained the new citizenship. And national without household registration in the ROC is not considered as a citizenship in most circumstances, so you would probably remain entitled to your original passport.
My son is a Chinese national born in China to a prc and a foreign parent. Doesn’t have household registration, so they give him the travel document.
Oh I remember that in another thread. Well your son is defined as a Chinese citizen under the PRC nationality law. Do a google image search for 旅行证 and you’ll find that they are usually issued to infants.
I’m not sure that this is quite how it works? I know that most countries won’t allow you to renounce citizenship if it would make you stateless. You need to show that you either already have another country’s nationality or that you will gain one after renouncing (the US being a notable exception).
And you must renounce your citizenship within a year of obtaining ROC nationality status which would be before you obtain household registration or they will cancel your nationality. So, actually, you do lose your original citizenship before gaining household registration in Taiwan.
Once you’ve renounced, that’s it, your passport is automatically invalid (in fact you would have to hand it in at the nationality renunciation appointment). So in the interim all you have is a NWOHR passport which is treated by many countries the same way as a stateless person’s travel document HOWEVER the holder of the NWOHR passport is not considered a stateless person even if NWOHR is the only nationality status they have.
Yea, to take a China born child out of China they give an exit permit if the child does not have a prc passport. To come back in its a visa in the foreign passport if they decide that the child is not chinese in the embassy. If they decide that the child - or anyone - is chinese by nationality they give the travel document. On the inside it says that the bearer is a chinese national. They don’t issue travel documents in mainland China, only in embassies. If it expires while you are there you need the exit permit again.
I guess so, but also guess that it varies by country. In the case of Ireland you can renounce your citizenship, cancelled your passport, and apply for a new irish passport again immediately. After you renounce you remain “entitled to be an Irish citizen” and become one again by reapplying for a passport.
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Well thank you. I’m glad to have been of service. 
Um…ok.
@Pogao, important question. In your Taiwanese passport, does it have your English name in Latin characters and your Chinese name in Chinese characters? Or does it just have your Chinese name in Latin characters?
Incorrect…you MUST surrender your existing passport (hence citizenship) in order to get naturalised unless you can prove to have some special ability/exceptionally skilled in some special area as defined by the MOI, then you don’t need to give up your Original Citizenship(passport)…but that’s a different topic altogether.
Yes, my Taiwanese passport has my Chinese name in Chinese Characters, my Chinese name romanized in Latin characters as well as my real English Name
e.g: 姓名 / Name (Surname, Given Names): 周杰倫 Chou, Jie Lun
外交別名 / Also known as: Jay Chou
No, what I said is totally correct. You do not have to renounce citizenship until one year after naturalizing. That is a fact. Read the law here: Nationality Act - Article Content - Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China (Taiwan)