Chinese Travel Document

The Travel Document is issued to Chinese nationals in situations when it is inconvenient or unnecessary to be issued a People's Republic of China passport.[1] Some cases include:

• Chinese citizens who lost their passports while having short-term journeys abroad;
• Chinese citizens who have soon-to-expire or already expired passports when they are abroad, but are not at the convenience of getting new passports due to the consideration of time needed;
• Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Hong Kong or Macau intending to enter Mainland China directly from other countries without a Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents;
• Chinese citizens born abroad who legally acquire Chinese citizenship at birth for their international travel back to China.
• A Chinese citizen may apply for a travel document for a child/children where only one of the parents is a Chinese citizen and the other parent the citizen of a different country.

Citizens of Taiwan are legally considered Chinese citizens. They may apply for the Travel Document if they intend to

• enter Mainland China, Hong Kong, and/or Macao without a Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents;
• visit United Nations offices or countries which do not recognize Taiwanese passport as legal travel documents.

The applicant shall approach any of the Chinese embassies, consulates, and other foreign offices entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in person to file the application. The application fee is lowered to US$18 (or the equivalent local currency) starting from 2019 in accordance with the new fee standard proved by the Ministry of Finance, while it was US$35 before.

The travel document has came under intense criticism by overseas Uyghur groups due to its one-way nature, which only allows the holder to return to China and not leaving the country again. Chinese consular missions in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Malaysia, Turkey and Kazakhstan are known for deliberately issuing one-way travel document rather than renewing Chinese passports to Uyghurs abroad, forcing them to renew their passports at their hometowns in Xinjiang, therefore exposing them to the risk of being taken into Xinjiang internment camps custody due to holder(s) overseas travel history.[2][3]

• Chinese passport
• People's Republic of China passport
• Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport
• Macao Special Administrative Region passport
• Travel document
• Taiwan passport
• Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents