Any countries where being a citizen is not enough?

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There is a wacky situation in China... Since China is divided between two regimes that claim themselves to be the sole government of the entire country, interesting and crazy things happen.

Technically, all PRC citizens are ROC (Taiwan) citizens, and vice versa. But as they are de facto different countries, ROC citizens are not by default admissible to the PRC, and vice versa. However, neither of them issue visas to its own citizens, and especially not on their passports because that would mean recognizing the other government. So, they get a separate piece of paper/card that serves as an "entry permit".

Now, the even more wacky part: the ROC government issues passports that do not grant the right to enter the ROC('s area of control). The new Exit, Entry and Immigration Law of the Republic of China grants the right of abode only to ROC citizens with an established domicile in Taiwan (to be specific, within the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu and Taiwan), so this rules out any mainland citizens. Naturally, most ROC passports are issued to residents of Taiwan, and almost all residents of the mainland are denied ROC passports. But there are two cases where the Government of the ROC might issue passports to citizens without domicile in Taiwan:

  • the ROC issues passport to members of the overseas Chinese community, among which identification with the ROC remain strong. They are ROC citizens by jus sanguinis, so, as long as they have no domicile in the mainland, they are eligible to be issued ROC passports as long as they show proper documentation. In practice, their passports almost always come with a Special Entry Permit (臨人字) that allows them to reside in Taiwan for at most three months per entry;

  • some (mainland) Chinese dissidents, having moved abroad, are granted special permission to use ROC passports (by Article 6 of the Passports Ordinace of the Republic of China), as they are often unable or otherwise unwilling to receive PRC passports. There are only about a few hundred people under this status, but their passport usually do not contain the Special Entry Permit, and thus their passport does not grant them to enter their "own country" as all. It is not clear how many ROC passport holders have totally no right to enter Taiwan, but a rough estimation would be "just a few dozen, perhaps".

In the mainland, a similar restriction applies. Unlike the ROC, the PRC have no objections issuing passports to residents of Taiwan, provided that they first obtain the Taiwan Compatriot Permit (i.e. the Travel Permit to Mainland China for Taiwan Residents). However, Taiwan residents can be barred entry to the mainland if they are denied this travel permit.

Moreover, Chinese residents of Hong Kong and Macao - who are both de jure and de facto PRC citizens - might also be barred entry to the mainland! All of them are issued PRC passports, but to travel the mainland one needs a Home Return Permit. Clearly, some members of the political opposition in Hong Kong have been denied this permit. They are PRC citizens both in name and in fact, but their country simply does not let them in.

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