Inserted pages in hukou booklets

Among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate, information on the existence of hukou booklets with inserted pages varied.

According to an officer in the Hukou Division of Guangzhou's Public Security Bureau (PSB), interviewed on behalf of the Research Directorate by a consulate officer of the Consulate General of Canada in Guangzhou, if there is not enough space to fit relatives' names and information into a hukou booklet in the case of a family hukou (jia ting), then a new booklet is issued (Canada 19 June 2006). The PSB officer indicated, however, that in the case of a hukou for a [non-family] group (ji ti), the hukou is issued "in the form of pages" instead of a booklet (ibid.).

The PSB officer further noted that hukou regulations differ by locality, and that he had seen inserted pages in the hukous of persons living outside of the city of Guangzhou (ibid.).

In 20 June 2006 correspondence, a PhD candidate in China Studies at the University of Technology in Sydney indicated that the addition of pages to the hukou, according to a visiting Chinese scholar she consulted, "could be possible." For example, in the case where a family adopts a child and the hukou booklet lacks the space in which to add the information, a loose page could be added to the booklet (China Studies PhD candidate 20 June 2006). Any "change or addition" to a hukou booklet, however, must be made by the PSB (ibid.).

In 23 June 2006 correspondence sent to the Research Directorate, an associate professor of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who specializes in the subject of household registration in China, indicated that without seeing the actual hukou, he would be unable to ascertain whether an insertion was legitimate or performed by the proper authorities. However, he indicated that it would be "unlikely that a booklet issued after [the] 1980s in Changsha [of Hunan (TravelChinaGuide.com n.d.)], a major city and a provincial capital, [would contain] loose, manually inserted pages" (Associate Professor of International Affairs 23 June 2006).

Production and Security Features

According to the PhD candidate in China Studies at the University of Technology in Sydney,

[t]he hukou booklet is still quite rudimentary and simple, unlike the personal ID card, which has a bar code and some other security elements intended to create a more reliable and accurate national database. The hukou system continues to be highly localized, that is, local governments decide what the requirements to acquire an urban hukou should be (who gets it, how much they need to pay, etc.) and they print their own booklets. So yes, it wouldn't be uncommon for hukou booklets to have additional pages, but all would have to have a seal from the PSB (20 June 2006).

The associate professor of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology stated that,

[t]here have been various types of hukou booklets used in the PRC [People's Republic of China]. Since the 1980s, the PRC police has done a great deal to upgrade the booklets in the areas of anti-forgery, including using modern anti-counterfeit and anti-alteration technologies. The new [hukou booklets] look like passports (23 June 2006).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Associate Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology. 23 June 2006. Correspondence.

Canada. 19 June 2006. Consulate General of Canada in Guangzhou. Correspondence from a consulate officer.

China Studies PhD candidate, University of Technology, Sydney. 20 June 2006. Correspondence.

TravelChinaGuide.com. N.d. "China Guide: Hunan Province: Changsha." http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/hunan/changsha/index.htm [Accessed 26 June 2006]

Additional Sources Consulted

Publication: Organizing Through Division and Exclusion: China's Hukou System.

Internet sites, including: China Internet Information Center; Congressional-Executive Committee on China (CECC); The Dui Hua Foundation; European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI.net); United Kingdom Home Office, Country of Origin Information (COI) Service; United States Department of State; United States Embassy of Beijing, China.