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About the Exit-Entry Permit

If your child was born in the United States, the usual setup for returning to China is a U.S. passport plus a Chinese Travel Document. After the Travel Document expires, you need to go to Hong Kong, Macau, or another overseas location to renew it. If you want to take your child abroad for a trip or go abroad to renew the Chinese Travel Document, then you will need to apply for an Exit-Entry Permit. For the official explanation and application requirements, please refer to the government website:

The clause most relevant to U.S.-citizen babies is this one about nationality conflict:

Those who need to apply for an Exit-Entry Permit due to nationality conflict, or situations such as Hong Kong/Macau residents losing their Mainland Travel Permit while in Mainland China, may apply for an Exit-Entry Permit.

China currently does not recognize dual nationality, while a child born in the U.S. automatically acquires U.S. citizenship. So in theory, a U.S.-born child in China cannot leave the country by applying for a Chinese passport as a Chinese national. Instead, the child can only obtain a Chinese Travel Document outside Mainland China or in Hong Kong/Macau. If the Travel Document has already expired, the only option is to apply for an Exit-Entry Permit under the “nationality conflict” category in order to leave China. Of course, if the Travel Document is still valid, you can use it like a passport.

One thing not mentioned in the official introduction is that for U.S.-born children, only a one-time Exit-Entry Permit valid for three months is available. In other words, it can only be used for a single exit and entry, and you cannot get a one-year multiple-entry version. So if the Travel Document has expired, you must apply for and use a one-time Exit-Entry Permit every time the child leaves China. Also, once it is issued, you must travel within three months.

Overall Process and Required Documents

The general process is shown below. From successfully submitting the application to having the permit mailed to your home, it usually takes about 10 days. Given the three-month validity period, timing your application is very important.

The most relevant part for most of us is the application submission stage, so I’ll share my experience based on applying in Tianjin. Keep in mind that required documents and local practices may vary by city. Since nationality conflict cases are not that common in some places, they may ask for additional documents. It’s best to call your local Exit-Entry Administration office first and confirm the requirements before you go.

First, here are the official requirements. I’m leaving out the items that are not relevant to U.S.-born children.

(1) One recent bareheaded photo and a fully completed Application Form for the Exit-Entry Permit of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the application form). The application form is available at the Exit-Entry Administration office, so you do not need to print it yourself. But do remember to bring the photo.

(2) Resident ID card; during the period of receiving, renewing, or replacing a Resident ID card, a temporary Resident ID card may be submitted instead; if your child has a Chinese household registration and Resident ID card, bring those as well.

(3) For applicants under age 16, a guardian must accompany the child and submit the guardian’s written consent for the child to leave the country, along with the guardian’s Resident ID card or household registration booklet, and passport; only one guardian needs to go in person, not both. However, you should bring documents for both parents. Personally, I only ended up using the ID cards and household registration booklet; the staff said the passports were not needed. Still, I recommend bringing them.

(7) For applications due to nationality conflict, lost documents of Hong Kong/Macau residents in Mainland China, or similar situations, supporting documents must be submitted. The official description here is not very specific, but based on the requirements, I prepared the child’s U.S. passport, birth certificate (no translation required; I had completed three-step embassy authentication, though I’m not sure whether that is strictly required), and Chinese Travel Document.

To make things easier, here is the full list of documents I prepared. Items in parentheses are things I brought but was not asked to show, though I still recommend bringing more rather than less.

  • One recent 2-inch color ID photo with a plain front-facing, bareheaded image; it will need to be attached to the application form
  • The child’s foreign passport (bring expired ones too, if any)
  • The child’s birth certificate
  • The child’s Chinese Travel Document; they checked the date of the most recent entry into China
  • The child’s previous one-time Exit-Entry Permit, if any; if there is one, bring it for sure
  • Both parents’ household registration booklets and Resident ID cards (passport, marriage certificate, previous exit document)

Also, application fees can now be paid by scanning a QR code, so that is the easiest option. If you bring cash, they may not have change available on site.

Applying in Person

Bring the child who is applying, and either parent can go with them. Bring all the documents. No photocopies are needed; originals are enough. They will not keep any of the originals. After taking photos/scans, they will return everything to you. The general process is:

  • Pick up and fill out the Exit-Entry application form at the front desk
  • Take another photo on site; after that, they will put a barcode sticker on your form
  • Go back to the front desk to get a queue number
  • When your number is called, bring the child and documents to the window
  • After processing, they will give you a confirmation slip with a QR code for payment

First, tell the staff on site that you need to apply for an Exit-Entry Permit due to nationality conflict. They will then give you the form shown below. A few notes:

  • Attach the photo in the designated spot on the form (I forgot to bring mine, and a very kind staff member printed one from the photo they took and attached it for me)
  • For a child, fields related to employer/work unit do not need to be filled out
  • In the “destination country” field, enter the child’s birthplace country. For example, if the child was born in the U.S. and has a U.S. passport, enter “United States.” That is how they told us to fill it out, even though the child may actually travel somewhere else after leaving China. (This was no longer required in this round of application.)
  • For the reason for going abroad, select “other” (the other listed options are things like fishery, livestock, trade, etc., and are not applicable)
  • For document type requested, the only option here is a three-month, one-time Exit-Entry Permit
  • For personal resume/history, write things like where the child attends school
  • In the sidebar section for children under 16, fill in your relationship to the child and sign your name

At the window, just hand the documents to the staff. Fingerprinting is not required for this application. A parent and the child will need to take a joint photo together at the window.

About Applying for a Chinese Passport

A side note here: in major cities, staff generally seem to understand nationality conflict cases involving U.S.-born children pretty well. When I called to ask, one staff member even directly asked whether my child had dual nationality, which made me think, isn’t that situation technically not allowed under policy?

During this application, one staff member asked why, if the child already had a household registration, we did not simply apply for a Chinese passport. I said the child already had a U.S. passport, and I thought China did not allow holding two passports. The staff member said it was fine: once you get a Chinese passport, the child can travel to other countries with it; the only exception is that you cannot use the Chinese passport to go to the United States (the birthplace). For travel to the U.S., just use the U.S. passport directly. Of course, that was only what a local staff member told me. I don’t know whether there could be practical issues with that approach. Applying for a one-time Exit-Entry Permit is the officially documented and clearly workable method, so I would suggest prioritizing that option even if it is a bit more of a hassle.

Some Issues I Saw Discussed Online

Nationality conflict is not a routine case, so different places may have their own procedures and document requirements. I read quite a bit online and summarized some examples below:

  • Only a one-time Exit-Entry Permit back to the child’s birthplace can be issued (Chengdu; Wuzhong District, Suzhou)
  • The Chinese Travel Document must be expired before they will issue one (Chengdu)
  • If the child does not have household registration, they still require a nationality determination for the U.S.-born child before issuing it (Zhengzhou, Henan)
  • Both parents must have Chinese nationality, and they must show a green card before the permit will be issued (Kaifeng, Henan)
  • The U.S.-born child must have household registration before the permit will be issued (Xiamen, Fujian)
  • The one-time Exit-Entry Permit is issued only once (Changzhou, Jiangsu)
  • A corner-cut Chinese Travel Document is required (Shanghai; a new policy introduced in Beijing in 2021)

In addition, I saw online claims that if the child has household registration, applying for this Exit-Entry Permit would lead to cancellation of that registration. I did not run into that issue myself. I specifically asked the staff, and they said the household registration would not be canceled.