How do people receive the Taiwanese Overseas Passport

[Militarygamer]

My friend is from Hong Kong, his parents are not Taiwanese descent, somehow he is able to obtain a Taiwanese Overseas Passport and he is living in Taiwan legally, how is that possible? He is 31 years old, I suspect the law may have changed over the years when he applied?

[tainted]

Technically PRC, HKSAR, MCSAR citizens are just ROC citizens without house hold registration.
After living outside the PRC for a period of 4 years or more, a PRC etc citizen can apply for an ROC passport.

1. PRC citizens have the character 新 (new) stamped in their passport to indicate they’re from the mainland.
2. SAR citizens have the character 特 (special) stamped into their passport to indicate that they’re from a SAR.

Overseas Chinese have always been eligible for ROC passports, but it’s somewhat useless for travel as visa exemption schemes are only valid for ROC citizens with Household registration.

[IceEagle]

@Militarygamer

My friend is from Hong Kong, his parents are not Taiwanese descent, somehow he is able to obtain a Taiwanese Overseas Passport and he is living in Taiwan legally, how is that possible? He is 31 years old, I suspect the law may have changed over the years when he applied?

Yes, it has.

From the Overseas Community Affairs Council 59.120.30.211/OCAC/Eng/FAQ/List.aspx?nodeid=455

Q. When the Overseas Chinese Identity Certificates obtained by Hong Kong and Macau residents before 1997 and 1999 have now expired, how are their Overseas Chinese Identities recognized?

A.

(1) After 1997 for Hong Kong and 1999 for Macau, the OCAC no longer issues Overseas Chinese Identity Certificates to Hong Kong and Macau residents by law. rPursuant to Article 4 of the Hong Kong & Macau Relations Act, residents of these areas who obtained overseas Chinese identities prior to the end of governorship by Great Britain or Portugal of Hong Kong or Macau respectively shall have their existing rights and interests protected.

(2) Pursuant to Article 7 of the Hong Kong & Macau Relations Act Enforcement Rules, a person who obtains an overseas Chinese identity means a person who has obtained an Overseas Chinese Identity Certificate issued by the OCAC. Hong Kong or Macau residents who claim that they have obtained such overseas Chinese identity must present the said Certificate. Where necessary the relevant authority may seek verification from the OCAC.

Q. Is there any restriction on who can apply for an Overseas Chinese Identity Certificate?

A. Overseas Chinese Identity Certificates are issued pursuant to the Overseas Chinese Identity Certification Act which applies to Republic of China nationals residing overseas. However, this does not apply to persons with Mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau residency status, or persons holding passports issued by Mainland China.

Either your friend got it before 1997, or possibly his father did (allowing your friend to later apply as the son of a ROC national).

@tainted

Technically PRC, HKSAR, MCSAR citizens are just ROC citizens without house hold registration.

Not quite. They actually are considered having household registration in their respective areas (e.g. HHR in Hong Kong, Macau, or the Mainland).

@tainted

After living outside the PRC for a period of 4 years or more, a PRC etc citizen can apply for an ROC passport.

1. PRC citizens have the character 新 (new) stamped in their passport to indicate they’re from the mainland.
2. SAR citizens have the character 特 (special) stamped into their passport to indicate that they’re from a SAR.

Technically true, but you’re forgetting the third requirement in Article 18 of the Enforcement Rules of the Passport Act:

archive.today/Tkus#selection-3016.5-3016.6

3. Special considerations for political, economic, social, educational, technological, cultural, athletic, overseas Chinese, religious, and humanitarian reasons.

Someone actually asked about it on this forum, forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 66&t=83415 , and was told,

[…] unless your wife can satisfy the VERY high standard of c which I called it a “Nobel Prize” clause, her application will be denied.

I called Bureau of Consular Affairs of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was confirmed that your wife do need to meet all of the three requirements. I was also confirmed that it is EXTREMELY difficult to pass c requirement. In other words, the interpretation in my two previous emails are correct.

@tainted

Overseas Chinese have always been eligible for ROC passports

Aren’t these the pre-2002 rules? I haven’t heard of anyone successfully applying after then, unless that person either already had a ROC passport or had parents who did. If someone knows differently, I’d certainly like to read about it!