Nationality law of the People's Republic of China territory "before or after" their transfer of sovereignty to China are regarded as "born in China". Those who are of ethnic Chinese origin are Chinese nationals before and after the handovers. Having said that, people born in Hong Kong or Macao in the years before handover, were usually given British nationality (mostly British Dependent Territories Citizenship) and full Portuguese citizenship, based on British and Portuguese laws. For Hong Kong residents, the "Interpretation" of the Nationality Law was adopted at the Nineteenth Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on May 15, 1996, a year prior to
Nationality law of the People's Republic of China nationality by officials in all three constituencies (see "Taiwan" below). The cost for naturalization differs between the three regions: in Mainland China, the application cost is 50 CNY and the certificate of nationality costs 200 CNY. In Hong Kong, the total cost is HK$3,460, composing of an initial application fee of HK$1,730 and the remaining fee of HK$1,730 (the remaining fee is only payable after a successful naturalization along with the presentation of any certificates of the loss of the foreign nationality). In Macau, the cost for application is MOP 1,000 for the main applicant and MOP 500 per family