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Chinese visa requirements for child adopted from China but American citizen

by Lori
(New Jersey USA)

Question: Hi. We will travel for vacation to China. My daughter was born in China, she is adopted and is an American citizen with a US passport. Do I need to submit her original Chinese passport along with her American Passport with the visa application? Many thanks!


Answer: If your US passport says, you are born in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong:

a) You must provide them with old passport OR
b) Previous Chinese visa

No exceptions to this rule.

The consulate will cancel your daughter's Chinese passport and Chinese citizenship and then issue the Chinese visa into her US passport. In the future, if she needs to re-apply, she will need to show only the previously-issued China visa. You need the old Chinese passport only for the 1st China visa in a US passport.

Comments for Chinese visa requirements for child adopted from China but American citizen

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Adoption certificate proof of name change from Chinese to English
by: Anonymous

I went through the same situation. Hope this helps...When a child is adopted, there should be a certification, most likely in a red folder stating the child's Chinese name, and what name it will be changed to after adoption. It is written in Chinese which might be why you can't recognize it. To help you recognize the certificate, it should have a photo of the adoptive parents and the child that you took in China, and somewhere on the bottom, you can see the child's English name.
Certificate of Citizenship
by: Anonymous

Question: My daughter was adopted from China and has a Certificate of Citizenship for the United States but she dose not have US birth certificate. Will she need to get a US birth certificate to receive a China Visa?

Answer: Please contact the Embassy of the People's Republic of China regarding your concern.
Chinese adopted daughter
by: Desiree B

Question: My daughter also cannot get a Chinese visa. The embassy wants the original name change paperwork which I never had. She has back 5 times with Chinese passport, US passport, US citizenship certificate, adoption decree, and all Mandarin paperwork. What is the deal?

Answer: Please contact the Visa Office of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC regarding visa issues.
How long for processing?
by: Anonymous

Question: My daughter is traveling to China with her college as an immersion program. She was adopted from China 20 years ago. We have provided all the necessary documents over 2 weeks ago. Do you know how long it normally takes? When the paperwork was dropped off she did not have a pick up date stamped on the form and was told she would receive a phone call.

Answer: Please contact the Visa Office of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC regarding visa issues.
1st time going to China but cannot find naturalization papers
by: AngelaR.

Question: I was born in China and adopted about 20 years ago. I applied for a Chinese VISA recently but the lady taking care of my VISA needs my naturalization papers stating that my Chinese name was changed to my current name (old Chinese passport name doesn't match my current USA passport). My mom said she was never given a copy of those papers. Will it be an issue getting my VISA if I cannot come up with the document that is needed? I sent the VISA lady a copy of the resident alien card that was assigned to me by the USA immigration/naturalization department when I arrived in the USA, will that be okay?

Answer: Please contact the Visa Office of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC for assistance with this issue.
Same situation but can't find passport
by: Jaylyn

Question: My husband and I have planned a trip to China with our daughter that we adopted from China 13 years ago. I have looked everywhere three or four times and cannot locate the passport. I have all of her adoption paper work and documents in big binder enclosed in a box and the passport seems to be the only document that is missing. Is there any way to get around the "no exception" rules?

Answer: Please contact the Visa Office of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC for assistance with this issue.

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