AN elderly couple in Nanshan who had no hukou (permanent residence permit) after returning from the United States could regain their Chinese identities, according to the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau.
The story of the couple, Huang Zan, 86, and his wife Li Caixian, was widely publicized after they wrote a letter to Shenzhen Red Cross Society last month, asking about procedures for donating their remains after death.
They migrated to the United States from Guangzhou in 1979 and had their hukou canceled, but chose not to become American citizens.
After returning from the United States in 1993, the couple have lived in Shenzhen to be close to Hong Kong where their elder daughter lives. But they have never visited the SAR because they cannot apply for travel permits without hukou. They applied three times for hukou but were rejected by Shenzhen police.
The Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau said Tuesday that the Guangzhou public security authority could provide the couple with a letter confirming they were not overseas residents before they apply for Chinese hukou.
As they had no close relatives or residence in Guangzhou, the couple should also provide any documentation they could find, including their expired U.S. green cards, and submit them to the exit and entry department.
The Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department would have the final say in deciding whether hukou would be granted in Shenzhen or Guangzhou.
(Han Ximin)
