A national without household registration (NWOHR) is a person with Republic of China nationality who does not have household registration in Taiwan. Nationals with this status may be subject to immigration controls when entering the Taiwan Area, do not have automatic residence rights there, cannot vote in Taiwanese elections, and are exempt from conscription. Most individuals with this status are children born overseas to Taiwanese citizens. About 60,000 NWOHRs currently hold Taiwanese passports with this status.^[1]

Although NWOHR status only has one Chinese-language name, the Ministry of Justice has used several English translations. These include: "nationals without registered permanent residence in the Taiwan Area",^[2] "non-citizen ROC nationals",^[3] "unregistered nationals",^[4] "Overseas Chinese having not established household registration in the Republic of China",^[5] and "people without nationalities in Taiwan".^[6] The Taipei Times occasionally uses "nationals without citizenship".^[7][8]

The Republic of China (ROC) governed mainland China from 1912 to 1949.^[9] The islands of Taiwan and Penghu were ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895 by Qing China, the last ruling dynastic Chinese regime, following its defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War. Control of these islands was transferred to the ROC in 1945 after the Second World War.^[10] Near the end of the Chinese Civil War, the Nationalist government was forced to retreat to Taiwan by the Communist Party, which subsequently established the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Since the conclusion of the war, the ROC has controlled only the Taiwan Area.^[11]

At the Cold War era, the government of the Republic of China on Taiwan continues to constitutionally claim territories control by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) as part of its territory.^[12][13] Because of this, the Nationality Act treated residents of those territories as nationals. Additionally, because Taiwanese nationality law operates under the principle of jus sanguinis, most overseas Chinese, Mongolian, and Taiwanese were also regarded as nationals during this era.^[14] During the Cold War, both the ROC and PRC governments actively sought the support of overseas Chinese communities in their attempts to secure the position as the legitimate sole government of China. The ROC also encouraged overseas Chinese businessmen to settle in Taiwan to facilitate economic development. Regulations concerning evidence of ROC nationality by descent were particularly lax during this period, allowing many overseas Chinese the right to settle in Taiwan.^[15]

From the late 1980s, Taiwan developed a stronger sense of local national identity and more readily asserted its separate identity from that of China. Legal reforms between 1999 and 2002 greatly reduced the ease by which further grants of ROC nationality were made to overseas Chinese and restricted citizenship rights only to those with household registration in Taiwan.^[16] Full citizenship rights, including permanent residence and voting, can only be exercised by nationals who have been registered.^[17] NWOHRs are now treated as an external population to Taiwan.^[18]

Residents of Mongolia, which was part of Imperial China until 1911, were also regarded as if they were mainland Chinese residents until 2002, when the Mainland Affairs Council removed the country from the administrative definition of the Mainland Area. Since then, Mongolians have been treated as foreigners and are required to apply for visas before entering Taiwan.^[19] In May 2013, the Mainland Affairs Council reaffirmed that Outer Mongolia is not a part of ROC's territorial claims and Mongolia is a sovereign state.^[20]

Residents of mainland China, which is now under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China (PRC), were identified as nationals given the pre-1949 history of the Republic of China. In May 2023, Executive Yuan released a policy memorandum to clarify that: "The people of mainland China do not have ROC nationality, and hence are not ROC nationals." (中國大陸人民不具中華民國國籍、非屬中華民國國民)^{[better source needed][21]}

Currently, people with NWOHR status are estimated to be around 60,000, mainly overseas Taiwanese, Chinese, and Mongolian living in East Asian countries of Japan and South Korea as well as the Southeast Asian countries of Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Among the NWOHRs living in Taiwan, many of them are ethnic Chinese from the Philippines descended from ROC nationals.^[7] A significant portion also come from Myanmar and Thailand, where Republic of China Army detachments fled to after the Chinese Civil War. Descendants of these soldiers entered Taiwan on forged or stolen passports, often to enroll in universities. Because they were not considered nationals of the countries they traveled from, they could not be deported.^[22] 875 of these descendants and 107 members of the Tibetan diaspora were granted amnesty in 2009, allowing them to apply for residency.^[3]

The law of Taiwan states significantly different rights and responsibilities between nationals with or without household registration. Nationals with household registration are the conceptual citizens in Taiwanese laws. Nationals without household registration, on the other hand, are subject to immigration controls and do not have automatic residence or employment rights in Taiwan.

NWOHRs given approval to reside in Taiwan are restricted from rights and benefits reserved for full Taiwanese citizens. They are not entitled to hold national identification cards and are given Taiwan Area Resident Certificates instead.^[7] The lack of household registration makes them ineligible for national health insurance^[23] and automatic workers' compensation coverage.^[8] They cannot vote in elections or stand for public office.^[24] NWOHRs who concurrently hold foreign nationality are additionally required to apply for work permits to be employed in Taiwan.^[25]

The NWOHR status are those people who qualify under Taiwanese nationality law but do not possess Household registration in Taiwan. Status changes on either nationality or household registration might affect the NWOHR status.

Children born to at least one parent with nationality are automatically nationals at birth regardless of their place of birth. However, the household registration in Taiwan can only be completed in Taiwan, and only Taiwanese people with household registrations may register their children into the household of themselves.

If a child is born to at least one parent with NWOHR status, the child is also with NWOHR status even if the birth is given in Taiwan, since there is no process available to establish household registration in Taiwan. If a child is born overseas to at least one parent with household registration in Taiwan (NWHR status), the child is eligible to establish household registration in Taiwan through his/her parent. However, the child will remain in NWOHR status until he/she completes the registration process in Taiwan.^[26]

To claim the nationality of a child born overseas, the parents will need to submit proof of a parent's nationality together with the birth certificate of the child to the Taiwanese diplomatic mission with the place of birth fall under its jurisdiction.^[27] In 2010, the government estimated more than 30 million people are estimated to be eligible to claim passports through nationality by descent.^[28] This anomalously high number came from many ethnic Chinese and Mongolian living overseas acquired nationality through the old nationality law prior to 2000 amendment.^[29]

Foreigners who acquire ROC nationality through naturalization will briefly become NWOHRs once they complete the naturalization process.^[30] Permission to establish household registration in Taiwan can be applied for at NIA 1 year after obtaining ROC nationality. The recently naturalized national will become NWHR once the permission to reside document from NIA is submitted to the household registration office.

The Nationality Act prior to 2000 amendment considered all people of Chinese descent to be nationals of the Republic of China. Ethnic Chinese and Mongolian living overseas, regardless of their place of birth may also acquired nationality from a diplomatic mission with the Certificate of Overseas Chinese identity issued by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Council of the government of the Republic of China.^[29]

After the 2000 amendment, the 'Certificate of Overseas Chinese identity is no longer a valid document base for applying Taiwanese passport. Clause for Ministry of Foreign Affairs to grant special permissions to issue Taiwanese passport to People's Republic of China nationals (residents of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau) still exists in the regulations, however no permission had actually be granted after 2010s.^{[31] [32][33] [34]}

If a spouse of an ROC national is a resident of PRC, they do not need to acquire ROC nationality first before obtaining household registration in Taiwan, a process that usually takes a total of six years. Spouses who are nationals of other countries need to become naturalized ROC nationals first after residing in Taiwan for three years. It then takes an additional one to five years for them to become eligible for household registration in Taiwan.^[35][36]

NWOHRs may request approval to reside in Taiwan for employment, study, investment, or family reunion. They may obtain household registration after residence for a number of years, which grants full citizenship rights in Taiwan.^[37] NWOHRs born to Taiwan Area persons may be registered after continuous residence for one year, 270 days per year for two years, or 183 days per year for five years.^[38] Mainland Area persons are subject to annual immigration quotas limiting the number of people acquiring residence permits and household registration each year.^[39] An NWOHR who enters Taiwan with a foreign passport or travel document for stateless people may not apply for residency, unless that person is an NWOHR by naturalization or descent through birth overseas to a Taiwan Area person.^[40] All NWOHRs who successfully obtain household registration continue to be exempt from conscription until one year after the day they are registered.^[5]

Beginning on January 1, 2024, NWOHRs born in Taiwan to Taiwanese parents with household registration, or NWOHRs born overseas with at least one parent with household registration, can gain household registration immediately without any further requirements.^[41]

NWOHRs may voluntarily relinquish the status by application to the Ministry of the Interior, provided that they have acquired another nationality or are married to foreign nationals.^[42] The status may be deprived if it was fraudulently acquired.^[43] All Taiwanese nationals, including NWOHRs, who obtain hukou in mainland China automatically have their passports cancelled and any residence rights in Taiwan revoked.^[44]

Although NWOHRs may travel using a Taiwanese passport, because the status by itself does not give its holders residence rights in Taiwan, the travel restrictions are different from those Taiwanese nationals with household registration when entering other countries.

Nationals without household registration may be subject to immigration controls and do not have the right of abode to Taiwan. Starting from January 2024, they may enter ROC-controlled territory with only their biometric NWOHR Taiwanese passports, provided they have a return or onward ticket to a next destination.^[45] They can also present separate document with permission to enter Taiwan, such as an Entry Permit issued by a Taiwanese diplomatic mission, or a Resident certificate issued by the National Immigration Agency.^[46] With regular Entry Permit, each visit is restricted to three months, which may be extended once per visit for a further three months.^[47]

Some specific NWOHRs may be able to apply for temporary entry permit upon arriving Taiwan if they hold an endorsement letter from an Overseas Community Affairs Council certifying their residency overseas, a South Korean Certificate of Alien Registration indicating long-term or permanent residency.^[46]

In some special cases, the Taiwanese National Immigration Agency may issue an Exit & Entry Permit for Taiwan to NWOHRs overseas, these permits are valid without having to present a passport.^[46]

The Taiwanese passport is not recognized as a valid travel document by the government of China. A lack of household registration in Taiwan and national identification number also disqualifies NWOHRs from obtaining a Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Resident. Thus, NWOHRs cannot follow similar procedures like Taiwanese people to enter territories of the People's Republic of China (including mainland China, ^[48] Hong Kong,^[49][50] and Macau^[51]). Instead, NWOHRs must apply for a Chinese Travel Document with a Chinese diplomatic mission in advance before starting their trip to China.^[52]

Most visa-free regimes for Taiwanese passport holders are limited to those with right of abode in Taiwan. These include Canada, Japan, Schengen Area, United Kingdom, and United States (Visa Waiver Program).^[53] NWOHRs are not eligible for those visa-free regimes. However, there are also visa-free regimes granted to both types of Taiwanese passport holders, such as Ireland and South Korea.