Chinese passport

Types

Articles 3, 4, 5 and 8 of the Passport Law of the People's Republic of China, which went into effect in 2007, declares three types of passports issued in Mainland China:

Article 9 of the Law states that the "issuing scope of diplomatic passports and service passports, the measures for issue of such passports, their terms of validity and the specific categories of service passports shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs".

The ordinary passport is considered as passports "for private affairs" (因私护照), while service (including for public affairs passports) and diplomatic passports are passports "for public affairs" (因公护照).

The passports for Macau and Hong Kong SARs are issued and regulated by the governments of these regions, hence are not covered in this law.

From July 2011, the Chinese government has already rolled out biometric versions of diplomatic passports, service passports and passports for public affairs. The launch date of biometric ordinary passports was May 15, 2012.

Passport for public affairs

A different passport for public affairs (因公普通护照, lit. ordinary passport for public affairs) was issued until 2006. Unlike the current version, it was classified as a variation of ordinary passport. The abuse of the use of document resulted in its subsequent cancellation. Unlike the other passports, it was issued by the provincial or municipal Foreign Affairs Offices, rather than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Public Security.

In 1996, 77% of persons exiting China held the passport for public affairs. The rate had dropped to 39% by 2002. The reason for the high rate of usage was because the passport for public affairs offered more visa-free countries, such as Russia, than the ordinary passport. Chinese regulations require the passport of public affairs to be kept in the possession of the holder's work unit, such that they must be surrendered by the individual within one month of returning to China. However, almost all holders chose to ignore the regulation, and this type of passport was widely issued even to street food dealers living in the border cities who wanted to extend their businesses to Russia. Frequent abuse of the use of this document subsequently resulted in the cancellation of visa-free agreements by many countries.

Validity

The passport previously had an across-the-board 5-year period of validity. Since 2007, ordinary passports are valid for 10 years for bearers above 16 years of age, and for 5 years for bearers below 16 years of age, and diplomatic or service passports are valid for 4 years. According to the 2006 Passport Law of the People's Republic of China, renewal of previously issued passports ended on January 1, 2007. However, passports renewed before 2007 remained valid until expiry.

Format

The newest version of the regular Chinese passport is the biometric version, which replaced its predecessors "Form 92", "Form 97-1" and "Form 97-2". It was released to the general public in May 2012. The passport contains 48 pages.

Ordinary Passport - Inside

Form "97-2"

The Form "97-2" ordinary Chinese passport is a machine-readable passport. In "97-2", personal data is on the inside front cover along with a coloured photo printed with inkjet printer, with a protection film covering most of the data page. Details include:

Biometric passport

In the biometric Passport, the personal data page was moved to a separate sheet of paper, and the design of personal data page has been amended significantly, adding the full name of PRC in Simplified Chinese and English on top along with an e-passport symbol printed with optically variable ink. New security features include a second ghost image of the holder and additional holographic graphs including the PRC emblem and the laser-printed world map. The details included are as follows:

Languages

All information is printed in Simplified Chinese and English, except for the "Attentions" page, which is only printed in Simplified Chinese.

Passport Note

中华人民共和国外交部请各国军政机关对持照人予以通行的便利和必要的协助。

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China requests all civil and military authorities of foreign countries to allow the bearer of this passport to pass freely and afford assistance in case of need.

Le Ministère des Affaires Étrangères de la République Populaire de Chine prie les autorites civiles et militaires des pays étrangers de laisser passer librement le titulaire de ce passeport et de lui preter aide et assistance en cas de besoin.

On version "97-1" and "97-2", it is on page 1. On the biometric version, it is moved to page 3.

Inner pages

In the biometric version, selected nature hotspots and famous sights of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are printed in the inner pages, each page also contains a transparent watermark of another nature hotspots and famous sights in the same area.

Last page

The last page has the notes for the passport. For e-passport, inside the backcover, a caution for the biometric chip is written in both Chinese and English:

本护照内置敏感电子元件。为保持最佳性能，请不要将护照折弯、打孔或者暴露在极端温湿度环境中。
This passport contains sensitive electronics. For best performance, please do not bend, perforate or expose to extreme temperatures or excess moisture.
请勿在此盖印 DO NOT STAMP HERE

Fee and processing time

The fee for a Chinese passport is CNY 200 for first-time applicants and CNY 220 for subsequent renewals. When applying for a passport overseas, the fee is US$35 or €25. No extra fees are charged for expedited processing if approved.

Normal processing time is 10 business days when applying from Mainland China, and 15 business days from Chinese diplomatic missions outside Mainland China (including Hong Kong and Macau). Expedited processing is available for 5 business days, but is only available if the applicants have genuine emergencies, such as they have deceased relatives abroad, their first day of school is near, or they have unused visas in old passports that are expiring soon. Some regions, such as Xinjiang, have stricter rules regarding the application process which requires additional background checks and an invitation letter from a friend or family outside Mainland China, or a travel voucher from a tourist agency. In this case, processing time is usually more than 30 business days and could be prolonged.

Special administrative region passports

Chinese nationals who are also permanent residents of Hong Kong or Macau Special Administrative Regions of the PRC are issued Hong Kong or Macau SAR passports by the respective immigration departments of the SARs. In Hong Kong, Hong Kong Immigration Department takes charge of issuing passports. In Macau, Identification Services Bureau does the same role. The SAR passports and travel documents are issued solely by the government of the SARs, and the designs differ greatly from that of the regular PRC passport, albeit all three passports bear the same country and nationality code, CHN, meaning that the bearer holds the People's Republic of China nationality.

Some countries classify Chinese nationals with SAR passports as Hong Kong citizens or Macau citizens for visa issuing purpose, other than the ordinary Chinese citizens classifications. Holders of SAR passports enjoy visa-free entry to many more countries than holders of regular PRC passports due to their highly developed social and economical status.

While the SAR passports and travel documents are endorsed by China, mainland ports of entry controlled by the Ministry of Public Security do not accept those documents for traveling between the mainland and the SARs. MPS requires SAR residents of Chinese nationality to use a Home Return Permit. Also, SAR passports are not required when traveling between two SARs, but residents should bring their permanent residence IDs.

Chinese nationals who are not permanent residents of Hong Kong are issued Hong Kong Document of Identity for Visa Purposes, and of Macau Macao Special Administrative Region Travel Permit or Visit Permit for Resident of Macao to HKSAR.

Chinese Travel Document

Self-Service Immigration System (e-Gate)

Holders of Chinese biometric Passports are eligible to use the Self-Service Immigration System, or e-Gates, when arriving from destinations outside Mainland China. E-Gates are located throughout numerous international airports in Mainland China (including the four busiest international gateways: Beijing Capital International Airport, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport) as well as land border crossing checkpoints in Shenzhen and Zhuhai. In order to use the e-Gate, they must hold biometric passports with their fingerprint data pre-recorded on the biometric chip. If their biometric passports do not contain fingerprint data, they must first register with China Immigration Inspection (CII) at land border checkpoints or international airports to be eligible.

Starting from August 19, 2016, passengers are able to use the e-Gates in terminal 2 of Beijing Capital International Airport to complete exit procedures from China as well.

Eligibility

The extended list of eligible travelers are:

Registration with CII not required:

Registration with CII required:

Visa requirements

Visa requirements for Chinese citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of the People's Republic of China. As of 2015, Chinese citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 45 countries and territories, ranking the PRC passport 83rd in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.

Traveling to and from Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan

Issued to Chinese nationals with Hukou or Chinese nationals not qualified for SAR-issued travel documents, Chinese passports cannot normally be used when travelling directly to Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan from Mainland China.

In order for such Chinese nationals to travel from Mainland China to Hong Kong and Macau, a Two-way Permit is required. Chinese foreign missions, however, do issue visa-like Hong Kong SAR Entry Permits to Chinese nationals residing outside Mainland China upon request, so PRC passport holders can travel solely between Hong Kong and Mainland with passports. Chinese passports can be used when transiting through Hong Kong or Macau to other countries and can enter Hong Kong or Macau for 7 days. Those traveling with passports are required to fill out landing forms in Hong Kong.

Travelling to Taiwan from Mainland China requires the Travel Permit to and from Taiwan (commonly known as the Mainland Resident Travel Permit). Although the Taiwanese National Immigration Agency also accepts Chinese passport as a valid travel document, Chinese authorities do not allow Chinese nationals to travel to Taiwan when departing from Mainland China unless holding the Mainland Resident Travel Permit with valid exit endorsement.

Foreign travel statistics

According to the statistics these are the numbers of Chinese visitors to various countries per annum in 2015 (unless otherwise noted):

Controversy

Vietnam and the Philippines have criticized China's decision to include disputed South China Sea islands on maps printed inside new Chinese passports. These maps also include territory currently disputed with India.

The government has been criticized for refusing applications for passports, particularly for Chinese dissidents and Chinese nationals who are of Tibetan and Uyghur descent. A human rights organization has estimated that over 14 million Chinese were either denied a passport or were unable to get one because of the restrictions.

It is worth noting that holding a Chinese passport does not grant the holder's right to return to China. In November 2009, Feng Zhenghu, a Chinese national and scholar, was denied entry to China for eight times after his medical treatment in Japan despite holding a valid Chinese passport and having no other nationalities. On four occasions, he successfully boarded the flight bound for Shanghai but was subsequently deported by Chinese immigration authorities. Feng refused to pass immigration control in Narita Airport and remained in the pre-immigration area for three months until he received guarantee made by Chinese diplomats in Japan to allow his return. After returning to China in February 2010, he was immediately placed under house arrest. The Chinese government was reported to maintain a black list which contains a list of individuals, both Chinese and foreign, that were not to enter the country.

From May 2016, passport applicants in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang are required to produce their DNA sample and Voiceprint as well as three-dimensional images when applying for a passport.