Hi, I wanted to get some feedback on my eligibility for a NWOHR passport
My situation is I was born in the US to a Chinese mother, who was not a permanent resident at the time. This was during the 1990s. My mother was born in the 1970s, and can trace her lineage to Ningbo when it was under the ROC and even the Qing dynasty. I do not hold a mainland passport or hukou, only USA citizenship.
I can see that I can apply for an OCIC on the basis of Chinese ethnicity, and an OCIC can be used as proof of ROC nationality, which would then make me eligible for a NWOHR passport if my understanding is correct. Furthermore I would be able to gain residence in Taiwan and acquire local hukou, and be able to keep both my USA citizenship and ROC citizenship, whereas if I naturalized I would have to give up my USA citizenship
I do not believe my ancestors held any ROC issued government documents like a passport as they were living in a farming village at the time.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Is my understanding correct on my eligibility? Can anyone recommend an agency that can help handle the application process?
You may not be able to get a NWOHR passport based solely on your ethnicity, I’m not sure.
But even if you can…
If you want to live in Taiwan for more than 90 days, you need a TARC. To get one, someone in your family needs to already have a hukou.
I recently got my NWOHR passport because I was able to prove that my mother is a Taiwanese citizen by providing her passport. But to get my TARC, I had to further prove that she has a current hukou by providing her ID card.
If any ethnic Chinese in the world could just live in Taiwan, there’d be a lot more people living here. And certainly the entire population of Hong Kong would have moved here last year.
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Unfortunately your interpretation is incorrect. The Overseas Compatriot Identity Certificate issued on the basis of Chinese ethnicity cannot be used to substantiate ROC nationality (see link). Under the section that outlines documents that prove ROC nationality, it specifically states: “Overseas Compatriot Identity Certificate, but does not include that issued to an applicant who obtained the Certificate through providing Proof of Chinese Ethnicity.”
Thanks for the reply stinkytofu, if you are able to document your lineage to someone born when the mainland was under ROC control would that give you any rights? Who is the typical applicant for a NWOHR passport, are they all descendants of only those who can document an ancestor from Taiwan itself?
Even if you are able to document your lineage, you would need to produce a passport or official ROC-issued document saying that they have ROC nationality in order for it to count. Generally NWOHR passport holders are overseas-born Taiwanese/Chinese whose parents/ancestors themselves held ROC passports.
Even if you are able to produce proof of that ancestor’s citizenship AND household registration AND your relationship to them, I would assume it still wouldn’t work.
In most countries that I know of, claiming citizenship by lineage only works if your family member is still alive, and is your legal guardian (i.e. parents, grandparents, foster parents, etc.). I’d assume it’s the same for Taiwan. For example, I can’t claim UK citizenship just because my ancestors immigrated to the US from the UK on the Mayflower.
In my case, I was able to obtain a NWOHR passport through family lineage even though I was born in the US, because my mother (who is my legal guardian) is a Taiwanese citizenship with a valid household registration at the time of my birth.