page_title: National without household registration
section_title: Acquisition and loss
hierarchical_section_title: National without household registration / Acquisition and loss
caption_attribution_description: English: Data page of Republic of China passport held by national without household registration, thus lacking an identity number.
context_page_description: A national without household registration is a person with Republic of China nationality who does not have household registration in Taiwan. Nationals with this status are subject to immigration controls when entering the Taiwan Area, do not have automatic residence rights there, and cannot vote in Taiwanese elections. However, they are exempt from conscription. Most individuals with this status are children born overseas to Taiwanese citizens. About 60,000 NWOHRs currently hold Taiwanese passports with this status.
context_section_description: Legislation governing Republic of China nationality applies to an extremely broad group of people. All persons of ethnic Chinese and Taiwanese origin, regardless if they have resided overseas for an extended period of time, are technically ROC nationals. Consequently, children born overseas to any of these people automatically acquire ROC nationality at birth. Furthermore, because of Taiwan's continuing claims over areas controlled by the People's Republic of China, PRC nationals from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau are also considered ROC nationals. Because only nationals born in ROC-controlled areas are automatically given household registration, any person claiming ROC nationality by descent or through connection with PRC-controlled areas would be NWOHRs. Foreigners who acquire ROC nationality do not acquire household registration as part of the naturalization process and are also NWOHRs until they register for permanent settlement in Taiwan.
  Requirements for acquiring documentation from the Taiwanese government certifying NWOHR status for non-naturalized nationals differ depending on which region of Greater China applicants originate from, whether they or their parents have ever held an ROC passport, and if they have registered as overseas Chinese at a Taiwanese diplomatic mission. Children born overseas to nationals already holding ROC passports are subject to no additional requirements other than providing sufficient proof of a parent's nationality. More than 30 million people are estimated to be eligible to claim passports through nationality by descent.
  Individuals from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau who do not also possess household registration in Taiwan are generally ineligible for passports and must obtain specific approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be granted exceptions. However, Hong Kong and Macau residents who had established overseas Chinese status before the end of colonial rule are exempt from this requirement and continue to be regarded as if they were other overseas Chinese. Residents originating from PRC-controlled areas who currently live overseas and have lived there for more than four years with established permanent residence may be issued passports if: they have been married to Taiwan Area persons for more than two years, or have children; and have special skills in their professional fields, or made extraordinary contributions to Taiwan. Mainland Area persons must additionally surrender their Chinese passports. Hong Kong and Macau residents are ineligible if they possess foreign travel documents, except for British National (Overseas) passports and Portuguese passports originally acquired before Macau's transfer in 1999. Residents from these areas may also be granted passports if they are invited to represent Taiwan in international competitions or under special discretionary circumstances, and if they currently live either in Taiwan or overseas.
  NWOHRs may voluntarily relinquish the status by application to the Ministry of the Interior, provided that they have acquired another nationality or are married to foreign nationals. The status may be deprived if it was fraudulently acquired. All Taiwanese nationals, including NWOHRs, who obtain hukou in mainland China automatically have their passports cancelled and any residence rights in Taiwan revoked.
caption: This ROC passport does not have a national identification card number listed in its details page, meaning that the holder is a national without household registration.
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