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I am British my wife is Chinese. Our kids hold passports for both countries.

Last year we used method three from here to travel to visit family in the UK. Dual Nationality Thread

Last year we managed to get visas for France for my wife and children in their Chinese passports and also a UK visa for my wife.

We traveled out of China on their Chinese passports (this is the only way, the Chinese see the kids as Chinese) and arrived in France. Then we left France and flew to the UK, my wife used her Chinese passport to travel and my children used their British passports to exit France and to arrive in the UK.

This year we tried the same process. My wife was granted a French visa however the kids were not, the reason being that they do not believe the itinerary that was supplied with the application. The three applications were identical for the whole family - so we are currently trying to appeal this decision.

I am worried that making a new application for an EU visa while we are still appealing the first decision may not be viewed in a good light.

We are looking for alternatives arrangements to get to the UK.

What countries have others successfully traveled via en route to the UK?

Dubai does look like an option - but I do not know how strict they are with the passport control. If a Chinese passport is used to enter the country, will they take issue with a UK passport being used to exit the country?

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    The answer to your question is 'almost certainly yes', but that doesn't seem very useful. Perhaps you should consider what you actually want to know, and ask that.
    – user90371
    Commented Jun 18, 2019 at 23:52
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    Can I suggest re-working the question to be something like "How can my dual-national (UK/China) children leave China without problem when travelling somewhere a Chinese passport holder would need a visa?"; because, they surely don't (Brexit notwithstanding) need a visa to enter France.
    – walter
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 1:57
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    You should consider submitting the French visa applications as family members of an EU citizen. Such applications are free of charge, and they are not subject to scrutiny of the travel plans.
    – phoog
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 3:53
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    @PatriciaShanahan I am guessing the OP wants visas to placate Chinese authorities. You don't need a visa to enter France as a British citizen and including information about the children's citizenship would almost certainly cause the consulate to explain as much and decline to process the application.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 7:55
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    @Patricia Shanahan If we tell the French embassy that we have UK passports they will not grant visas due to the children being considered to be European.
    – user308114
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 13:39

2 Answers 2

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The laws changed. We were able to apply and receive another bit of paper that allows the kids to exit China when flying direct to the UK. We got the paper but we never got to travel because of Covid.

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Why don't you travel via a different third country? There are quite a few to choose from, but UAE and Qatar stand out as good options, as Chinese and British citizens do not require visas to enter these countries, and they are major international hubs (Qatar perhaps less so than UAE, but still).

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  • Thanks. Dubai is a country I have considered - on paper it looks like it will work. However I do not know how strict the passport control is in that country. The flights for the four of us are more expensive via Dubai and I am very reticent to just give it a go and hope for the best.
    – user308114
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 13:46
  • What "strictness" are you concerned about? You all meet all the rules for entering UAE, so why would there be a problem?
    – CMaster
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 15:17
  • @user308114 Dubai lets in almost anybody, has a fairly liberal visa on arrival scheme, and even lets airlines arrange transit visas! They want people coming there.
    – Michael Hampton
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 16:07
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    @user308114 But you would not do that. You enter and exit a country with the same passport, always.
    – Michael Hampton
    Commented Jun 20, 2019 at 0:14
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    The risk there is that the girls are recorded as Schengen overstayers (which of course they aren't, but could be a pain if the records suggest that they are)
    – CMaster
    Commented Jun 20, 2019 at 8:53

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