The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport.
Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed.
Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said.
Photo: Bloomberg
Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in March last year he submitted evidence that he had renounced his household registration in China, the decision said.
He completed his Taiwanese household registration in April last year.
However, when Lu arrived in Taiwan in October last year, the National Immigration Agency discovered he had a Chinese passport valid until July 3 next year, which officers found in a folder carried by his mother, it said.
Under the Measures for the Permission of Family-based Residence, Long-term Residence and Settlement of People from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民在臺灣地區依親居留長期居留或定居許可辦法), a person who is registered to a household in China or holds a Chinese passport loses their status as a person of Taiwan, and their permanent residency status can be revoked and their household registration can be canceled, it added.
Lu said in his appeal that he was studying in Thailand before coming to Taiwan, and that his Thai student visa was registered using his Chinese passport.
He exited Thailand on his Chinese passport, which is why he brought it to Taiwan, but he would not use it again, and planned to apply for a Thai student visa using his Taiwanese passport, which he used to enter Taiwan, he said.
As a minor, he did not intentionally possess the passport, and maintaining household registration in Taiwan is crucial to his growth and life, Lu said, requesting that the original cancelation be reversed.
Lu traveled to and from Thailand on his Chinese passport from April 17 to Oct. 3 last year, demonstrating that he continued to use his Chinese passport after obtaining household registration in Taiwan, the Ministry of the Interior said.
The revocation of his Taiwanese settlement is legal under Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the ministry said.
The article states that “the people of the Taiwan Area may not have household registrations in the Mainland Area or hold passports issued by the Mainland Area” or they would lose their status as a person of Taiwan, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said.
Lu has been living in China and studying in Thailand, while only staying in Taiwan for 47 days from his first arrival on July 11, 2024, until he canceled his Chinese household registration, the ministry said.
In addition, he on Oct. 31 last year applied to return to China and restore his household registration, it added.
Lu can still apply for residency in Taiwan based on special humanitarian grounds, because he is the underage child of a Taiwan resident, the ministry said.
After legally residing in Taiwan for two consecutive years, for more than 183 days each year, he may apply for permanent residency, it said.
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