China’s new polices regarding those intending to or have already emigrated
Hong Kong Echo#Newspaper
(14 Jul) China has recently imposed two new policies that greatly affect those intending to or have already emigrated.
The first [policy] is that civil servants are prohibited from emigrating.
On 20 June 2020, China published the People's Republic of China Law on Governmental Sanctions on Public Employees, which stipulates that as of 1 July 2020, any public employees [civil servants] who:
1. leave the country or arrange for documents for personal travel, in violation of the rules shall be given a demerit or major demerit; in serious cases, they shall be demoted or removed.
2. obtain foreign citizenships or permanent (or long-term) residency permits outside mainland China, in violation of the rules shall be removed or dismissed.
Before [these policies], it was illegal for public employeesto emigrate but there were no clear sanctions for breaking the law.
Previously, there was an undesirable trend of public employees emigrating elsewhere.
The former director of the Guangdong State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Liu Fucai, had a "very low salary of less than 80,000 RMB" and envied other entrepreneurs earning "800,000 RMB on the high end and 460,000 RMB on the low end". He consequently took repeated advantage of his position to "make money". Later, he secretly applied for immigration in Australia and resided there long-term without returning to China. In 2015, he was expelled from the Communist Party and his retirement funds were cancelled.
There are many other similar examples. Some public employees not only sent their wives and children abroad, but also obtained green cards and foreign passports for themselves. This entirely deviates from one's "original intention" [of patriotic loyalty] and betrays the trust of the people.
Now that official rules prohibiting public employees from applying for immigration elsewhere are finally made clear, it is believed that the situation will improve.
Additionally, a new policy that affects the interests of Chinese people overseas was recently introduced - to cancel the hukou* of overseas Chinese. A nationwide hukou reorganization will be carried out to thoroughly clear up any hukous that have yet to be cancelled.
And whose hokous are within the scope of cancellation? There are explicit criteria: deceased citizens, those enlisted in the army, those with foreign citizenship or have settled abroad, etc.
Regarding settlement abroad, these are the specifications:
Chinese citizens who have already obtained the right to long-term residence or permanent resident status, and stayed in the country for two consecutive years and accumulated no less than 18 months' residence within the two years; Chinese citizens who have not yet obtained the right to long-term residence or permanent resident status, but have already legally lived in the country for five consecutive or more years and accumulated no less than 30 months' residence within five years.
To summarize, you are considered to have settled abroad if:
- you have a green card and have lived abroad for 18 months cumulatively within two years;
- you do not have a green card and have lived abroad for 30 months cumulatively within five years.
After your hokou is cancelled, according to China's Exit and Entry Administration Law: "A Chinese citizen who has settled abroad is required to provide proof of identity in order to handle financial, educational, medical, transportation, telecommunication, social insurance, property registration and other affairs in China. Identity may be proven with a passport."
Moreover, your account's cancellation does not mean your nationality is cancelled as well. You are still Chinese, just without a hokou.
Some say that after your hokou is cancelled, your identity card will also be cancelled. Some hotels in China require an identity card to stay and passports are not allowed, so it becomes inconvenient when you need to stay at a hotel. Hotels aside, having no identity card in China brings many other inconveniences.
You are not required to cancel your identity card when you cancel your account. However, you will need your hokou to renew your identity card when it expires. It is unclear whether your identity card could be renewed after your account has been cancelled.
Source: WeiXin QQ
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/w4OrCBQfx3euyXoLX9tDlg
Translated by: Hong Kong Echo
https://twitter.com/hongkongecho/
Further reading:
*What is Hukou?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou
#OverseasChinese #CivilServants #Hokou #Immigration