I was born in the USA in 1974 to Taiwanese parents. My mother has maintained her household registration the whole time. My father is deceased and likely did not maintain household registration. We couldn’t even find his Taiwan passport or ID card, so it has likely been decades since he had an active registration. Am I considered a Taiwan National if only considering my mother? I can’t tell if the 1980 date is significant anymore with the recent changes. I have a link to the Nationality Act, amended 5/2024. Article 2 makes it sound like I can have nationality based only on my mother. TECO in LA is telling me I would NOT qualify based solely on my mother’s status. Thank you for your discussion.
A person shall have the nationality of the R.O.C. under any of the conditions provided by the following Subparagraphs:
His/her father or mother was a national of the R.O.C. when he/she was born.
He/she was born after the death of his/her father or mother, and his/her father or mother was a national of the R.O.C. at the time of death.
He/she was born in the territory of the R.O.C., and his/her parents cannot be ascertained, or both were stateless persons.
He/she has undergone the naturalization process.
The provisions of Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of the preceding Paragraph shall also apply to those under the age of 20 at the time of the amendment and implementation of this Act
on February 9, 2000.
If you father had HHR and ID card at time of your birth yes. Not from your mother.
HHR and ID never expires even if out of country. You need to get the records of your fathers HHR and ID number, your parents marriage certificate. If both parents are Taiwanese then it would be on the HHR with the marriage.
I emailed them with the link. I haven’t heard back, yet. I find this process so confusing. In the English translation of the law, it does mention the law ‘shall also apply to’ people under age 20 as of 2000 (therefore born after 1980). That sounds to me like everyone is included, regardless of the 1980 cutoff date.
Then you have misunderstood. My own son was born in 1991 and had an ROC mother but foreign father. So he was not granted ROC citizenship even though born in Taiwan. He was in Australia in 2011 so applied for and was approved for Taiwan nationality as he was born after 1980. 1980 is the cut off date for those with ROC mother only.
However you claimed your father had HHR and ID card when you were born yes?
It does not matter. He has heritage and maybe wants to move to Taiwan?
@MeasureTwiceCutOnce
Your mother should know from her marriage document and other documents from your father. My wifes father died when she was a teenager over 40 years ago, her mother still has a copy of his HHR and ID documents. Your mother can find her HHR in Taiwan and it should show your fathers name and ID there as she was married to him.
It can only be through your father based on the year of your birth before 1980.
However, it does sound like your father was probably a NWHR when he was alive and probably at the time of your birth anyway.
It’s a matter of getting your father’s HHR records. There is a version called the 除戶戶籍謄本 that can be gotten from the last Household Registration Office (HHRO) and making your claim based on it.
Though I think it’s also the question of whether the marriage was also registered in Taiwan. If it was, maybe your mom can contact the HHRO to get your father’s 戶籍謄本 .
Otherwise, you’ll need to track those documents down. perhaps like how this person did with FOI requests to the US government/courts.
It also doesn’t matter if your father “maintained Household Registration”, your father does not lose his HHR even if it had been moved out, so as long as he hadn’t lost his Nationality you can claim through your father.
Yes, my father was Taiwanese. I thought it would be easier to go through my mother, since she is still living and has current household registration. We don’t have my father’s ID card or passport. I’ll have to see if he is listed on my mother’s household registration. They moved to the U.S. before I was born. I was hoping the new Nationality law in 2024 removed the requirement to be born after 1980.
Wanting to have options for the future. My mother is elderly, and I need her help with this matter.
Your father’s id and passport might be in his immigration records. Consider making a freedom of information request. A US immigration lawyer might be able to help you do this more effectively but chances are you can do it yourself.