What’s your passport? What country is it from? Do you carry one or two passports?

您的护照？您来自何邦？您有一个还是两个护照？

On my resume, I often write something confusing: born in Hong Kong, US citizen by birth. Few people can understand that. It’s something like this: my maternal grandparents migrated to Seattle, from Shantou, China in 1905 or thereabouts, and my mother was born in Seattle, USA, and therefore American by birth on US soil. That part is pretty straightforward. However, you might, or might not, have heard that children born of US citizens, born anywhere in the world, are US citizens by birth, at birth. So, therefore I was indeed registered at birth as a US citizen, even though I was born in Hong Kong, which at that time was a British colony. My passport therefore could be a US passport, just like my mother’s.

我的简历常常让人困惑：生于香港，但我出生就是美国公民，这让人难以理解。情况是这样的：我的外祖父母在1905年前后从中国汕头移民到西雅图，我母亲生于西雅图，她是土生土长的美国公民，这是很显而易见的，但您或许不知道美国人不管在世界何处生的孩子一出生即为美国公民。尽管我生在其时还是英国殖民地的香港，但我出世即为美国公民，和我母亲一样可以持美国护照。

In the past, by being born outside the USA, however, even if I had US citizenship and carried a US passport, I was not considered exactly equal to those born on US soil. For example, the official thinking was that being born overseas, I could not run for the US presidency! Only “natural born US citizens” could run for the position, and it was understood that meant the person had to be physically born in the USA. But, the laws were “re-interpreted” later that, believe it or not, “natural born” US citizens included those born of US citizens, even outside USA, and not just USA born, so I could run for the job (in theory)! And be a full “American.” Are you confused enough?

在过去，出生于美国国土以外，尽管我拥有美国公民资格也有美国护照，但是我还是不能和生于美国国土上的美国公民拥有相同的地位和权利。例如：法律规定因为我在国外出生，我就没有资格竞选美国总统！只有“自然出生的美国公民”才能争取那个职务，也就是说只有实实在在出生在美国国土上的人才行。但是这个法规后来被从新解读，不知道您信不？现在“自然出生的美国公民”包括了不只是美国国土上所出生的，也包括美国公民在国外所生的，理论上我也可以竞选总统了！我也是个十足的、不折不扣的“美国人”。把您绕糊涂了吧？

When I was 15 years old, my family allowed me to travel on my own in Southeast Asia, and decided that I should take out a British passport. In those days, since I was born in a British colony, I could claim British citizenship, which allowed me to travel quite conveniently to many parts of the world. It sounds kind of strange for a US citizen, born in Hong Kong, to travel on a British passport, but that’s the way life goes. The Brits were still doing well globally, so the passport was really quite well received everywhere.

我15岁时家里允许我自个儿去东南亚旅行，决定让我持有英国护照。在那时，因为我出生在英国殖民地，我可以申请英国公民，这可以让我在世界许多地方旅行更方便。这看起来有点匪夷所思，香港出生却是美国公民，又持英国护照旅行，然而事情就是这样进行的。时至今日英国人在全球依然干得不错，因此英国护照在那里都能通行。

However, at some point in my life I had to declare my “allegiance” to a country. There were some provisions for “dual citizenship” which included some restrictions such as serving in the army of one or the other country. So, some people could carry two passports, and in theory, I could. Before the age of 18 (or was it 21, the rules kept changing), I was supposed to go back to the USA to claim my citizenship officially and definitively. By that time however I had a girlfriend (who became my wife, see uncle Reggie stories: Making an Impression) and the decision between a committed girlfriend and bureaucratic US citizenship/ passport was not a difficult one!

但是，在我生命的某个节点，我必须对某个国家宣誓效忠了。对“双重国籍”有一些规定，比如在一个国家或者另外一个国家服兵役有一些限制。因此一些人持有两个护照，理论上讲我也可以。我得在18岁前（或者21岁前，政策总在变动）回到美国去确定我的正式的也是最终的公民身份。然而那个时候我有了个女朋友，她后来成了我的妻子（参看Reggie叔叔的故事(Reggietales.org)：留下印象）。在承诺厮守终生的女朋友和官方的美国公民资格/护照之间不难做出抉择！

In 1965, my committed girl friend and I decided to marry in June of the following year, 1966. Shortly after the ceremony, we planned to “move back” to the USA. But then the complexity of the situation came on us. My wife-to-be had a Thai passport, and I had a British one, and my US citizenship had lapsed. So what was the right category that I should be in when applying to the US consulate?

1965年，女朋友和我决定来年6月结婚。我们计划婚礼后不久就“返回”美国。但是严峻的问题浮现眼前，未婚妻持泰国护照，我有英国护照，我的美国公民资格失效了。我向美国领事馆提交何种类型申请呢？

Since I exceeded my stay outside the USA, I learned that the best way was to start afresh and apply as an immigrant, carrying a British passport, and sponsored by my US citizen mother, as her dependent. But immigration quotas are funny things. Even though I was technically a British citizen, each area of the world had a separate quota, and my quota was not the United Kingdom, but Hong Kong.

由于我超期滞留海外，我得由我的美国身份的妈妈担保作为她的亲属以英国护照从新申请移民。但移民配额太滑稽了，每个地区都有一个单独的配额，尽管我从技术上讲是个英国公民，但我的配额不是英国，而是香港。

Plus, the quota for Hong Kong was very small compared with the huge population waiting to immigrate. We were likely going to be mixed in with a very long waiting list. In fact, in those days, Hong Kong was not so much a political entity but a staging ground for masses of people waiting to immigrate somewhere else. In the meantime, I had been accepted by the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago for my pediatric internship, and was due to arrive before July 1, 1966, so I was getting worried.

另外，香港的配额对于大量等候的移民而言简直微不足道，我们会被淹没在长长的等候队伍里。其实在那个时候香港对于很多等候移民的人不是一个政治存在，而是一个移民他国的跳板。同时我被芝加哥的Michael Reese 医院录用为儿科实习生，1966年7月1日前就得到位，我因此变得焦躁了。

In a stroke of genius from above, while I was an intern at the Queen Mary hospital in Hong Kong, six months before the expected travel date, the patient I was looking after “happened to be” the consul from the American Embassy in Hong Kong. As we were chatting, I mentioned my travel and immigration uncertainty. He instantly came up with a brilliant idea.

突然间峰回路转，柳暗花明，天赐良机，距离预期离港时间还有六个月，我正在香港玛丽医院实习,“碰巧”我负责的一个病人是美国驻香港的领事。我们交谈的时候，我提到我的行程和不确定的移民。他立刻灵光闪现。

The immigration quota from Thailand was actually large compared with the number of potential immigrants. He advised me to do the following: the day after our wedding in June, which was just five days before our departure date, we should carry the marriage certificate to see him. He would then switch me from the Hong Kong immigration quota to my new wife’s Thai quota, while my wife would be attached to my immigration status as son of an American citizen. Complicated, no? It was bureaucratically complicated, but simple in execution and it worked beautifully. We got our official papers during our short 5-day honeymoon period in Hong Kong, just barely, before we left. Bureaucrats can be non-bureaucratic.

泰国移民配额对于可能的移民数而言那是相当大的。他建议我如下操作：我们6月份的婚礼后第二天，恰好是我们离港前5天，我们带上结婚证去见他。他就把我从香港移民配额里调到我新婚妻子的泰国配额里。我的妻子附在美国公民的儿子的移民身份里。复杂吗？对于政府机关的程序而言是复杂的，实施起来却很简单而且高效。我们在香港的短短5天的蜜月里我们就得到了批准，刚好在离港前，很是惊险。官僚也可以不官僚啊。

As many know, after five years on an immigrant visa, technically labeled as a permanent resident, one can go on to full citizenship after a citizenship examination. I passed the examination easily, since my mother had made sure I was fully indoctrinated in Americana from childhood. I was facing the immigration officer to swear the Oath of Allegiance, when the officer, who was only an interim officer, looked carefully at my folder. He exclaimed “you are already a US citizen, so you don’t need to go through this!” So I explained to him about my delay in returning to the USA.

众所周知，持标明永久居住的移民签证，过了5年，就可以通过公民考试获得完全的公民身份。我轻而易举的通过考试，我妈妈确信我从小就是学习的美国思想。我要面对移民官宣誓效忠，临时来的移民官仔细审阅了我的文件，他说：“你已经是美国公民了，你不需要宣誓！”因此我给他解释我的延迟归国的原因。

But, he said “Aha, the rules have changed; the new rule is that you could delay your return until age 29 (I can’t remember exactly, and the rules have changed often). Since you came over at age 25, we cannot go through this change from immigrant to citizen, because you are already a citizen! So please give me back our immigration card.”

但是，他说：“哈哈，规矩变了，新的规定是你可以延迟到29岁归国（我记不确切了，政策老是变）。既然你25岁就回来了，我们不用从移民到公民折腾了，因为你已经是公民了。把你的移民证还来吧。”

At this point, I was not impressed. I exclaimed, “No way! I’m keeping my immigration card; otherwise I do not have a status; let’s fix my status before I return this card to you. Especially since I am going to the USSR on a British passport in a few months, and I certainly don’t want to travel with uncertain citizenship!” To which he kindly agreed.

对此我并没有喜出望外。我说：“不行啊！我得保留我的移民证，否则我没有身份，在还给你前先确定我的身份。特别是我几个月后要持英国护照去苏联，我当然不愿意以不确定的身份旅行！”他宽宏大量的同意了。

But I had to redo the entire citizenship process. Since now I had to prove my birth citizenship all over again, and include much more information about my childhood, schooling, and various residences, which took another six months, before I “reclaimed” my full citizenship, and my clearly USA passport.

我得从新走完整个公民流程。我得从新证明我出生时的身份，还包括我的孩提时期、上学阶段，不同的居住地等等大量信息。花了6个月的时间，我才再次得到我的完全的公民身份和我的明白无误的美国护照。

National passports are pretty complex matters and governments pass all kinds of laws about them. My passport to heaven is actually much simpler compared to all of this bureaucracy. As Christ used to say, “Seek and you will find, ask and you will receive, knock and it will be opened to you.” And it doesn’t matter where I was born, where I grew up, and when I moved where. Also, I don’t really need to carry it around, or keep it in a safety box, and I can’t lose it. What’s your passport is a good question, and it’s good to know the answer.

公民护照是一个相当复杂的事，政府也通过了一系列法规。我去天堂的护照相对于这些繁文缛节那是非常简单的。基督说过：“找必见，要就给，叩门必有应”。不管我生于何方，长于何地，何时迁徙去他邦，这些都不是问题。而且，我不用随身携带，也不必放进保险柜，怎么也不会丢失。您的护照是什么？这是一个很好的问题，也有一个很好的回答。