Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Legislation on the Replacement of RIC After a Change of Address and Whether a New RIC is Issued for a Change of Address

For information on the procedures to obtain an RIC and the security features, see Response to Information Request CHN103754 of July 2011 and CHN102481 of July 2007.

The Law of the People's Republic of China on Resident Identity Cards entered into effect on 1 January 2004 (China 2011, Art. 23). According to the US Library of Congress, the law underwent a revision on 29 October 2011, requiring the collection of fingerprints for RICs, as well as setting forth situations in which police may check citizen ID cards, and clarifying that first generation ID cards will cease to be valid as of 1 January 2013 (US 4 Nov. 2011). The law also describes the circumstances under which a replacement of RIC is required under Chapter II:

[translation]

Article 11

Where the State decides to issue a new-generation of resident identity cards, or the term of validity of a resident identity card expires, or a citizen changes his name, or the card is so seriously damaged that what is registered becomes illegible, the bearer shall apply for a new card; where mistake is found in the items registered in a resident identity card, the public security organ shall put it right without delay and issue a new card; and when getting the new card, the bearer shall return the original one. Anyone who loses his resident identity card shall apply for reissue of a card.

Where any of the circumstances mentioned in the preceding paragraph occurs to a citizen under the age of 16 in respect of his resident identity card, he may apply for a new card, for changing the card, or for reissue of a card.

When a citizen goes through the formalities of changing his permanent residence registration, the public security organ shall record the change of the address of the citizen's permanent residence under the relevant computer-read item in the resident identity card and inform the citizen himself of the fact. (China 2011)

According to Article 3 of the same Law:

[translation]

The registration items for a resident identity card shall include: name, gender, nationality, date of birth, address of permanent residence, citizen identity number, personal photograph, fingerprint information, and the expiration date and the issuing authority. (ibid.)

An article by Xinhua News Agency indicates, regarding the draft law, that a prior proposal to issue new RICs for a change to any registration item had been included in the law, but that the government's Legal Committee , who studied the draft law prior to adoption, accepted the opinion of a member of the Standing Committee who had pointed out that "China, at the present time, has a highly mobile population and sees frequent changes of address," and issuing a replacement RIC whenever there is a change in address "might prove to be an imposition on the public and will add to the workload of administrative authorities" (Xinhua News Agency 28 Oct. 2011). The article further indicates that the Legal Committee, as a result, kept the original provision of the law, which states that, among all the items registered in a resident identity card, only "a change in the [card holder's] name" would require a replacement of an RIC (ibid.).

Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2. Procedures to Obtain a New or Replacement RIC in Hebei Province

The Municipal Public Security website of Hengshui city, Hebei province, states that a fee of 20 Chinese yuan (CNY) [approximately C$3.92] per card is required for requests related to the Second-Generation Resident's Identity Card, except in the situation of replacement of a lost card, which costs 40 CNY [approximately C$7.84] (Hebei 20 June 2014).

Further information on the procedures to obtain a RIC in Hebei province following a change of address could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. For information on procedures in Hebei province for updating a hukou with a change of address or after a change in the head of household, see Response to Information Request CHN105576 of July 2016.

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 sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

China. 2011. Law of the People's Republic of China on Resident Identity Cards. Sent to the Research Directorate by the United States Library of Congress, 28 June 2016.

Hebei Province. 20 June 2014. "Fee Schedule for Household Registration Requests." Translated by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada. [Accessed 22 June 2016]

United States (US). 4 November 2011. "China: New ID Card Law Requires Recording Fingerprints." [Accessed 16 June 2016]

Xinhua News Agency. 28 October 2011. "Draft Amendment to the Resident's Identity Card Act Undergoes Three Amendments." Translated by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada. [Accessed 21 June 2016]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Professor of International Affairs, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts; Associate Professor of Economics, State University of New York at Buffalo; Associate Professor of Social Development, East China Normal University; Associate Professor of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science; PhD Candidate and lecturer in International Politics, University of Leicester.

Publications: China Perspectives; The China Quarterly; IZA Discussion Papers.

Internet sites, including: Asia Society; Asia Times; BBC; Center for China and Globalization; China – State Council, People's Government in provinces of Hebei, and in cities of Baoding, Cangzhou, Chengde, Handan, Hengshui, Langfang, Qinghuangdao, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Xingtai, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Provincial Department of Public Security; Current History; The Diplomat; ecoi.net; The Economist; Factiva; Freedom House; The Guardian; Hebei.com.cn; Human Rights in China; Human Rights Watch; Migration Policy Institute; Peking University Law Database; People.com.cn; Reuters; Sixth Tone; UN – Refworld; US – Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Department of Justice, Department of State, Library of Congress.