Rumors that China may soon issue permanent residency ID cards to North Korean defectors are spreading rapidly across the country’s northeast. The rumors have raised hopes among people who have lived for years without any legal identity.
A Daily NK source in China said Tuesday that the rumor began in early July. “Since early this month, rumors that foreign permanent residency ID cards will be issued have spread quickly among North Korean defectors, starting in Heilongjiang province and moving into Liaoning and Jilin provinces,” the source said. Hopeful defectors have begun to wonder aloud whether they might soon use banks and hospitals openly under their own names, the source added.
No one has confirmed the origin of the rumor or whether it is true. Still, it keeps spreading. Photos of a card labeled “People’s Republic of China foreign permanent residency ID card” have circulated in group chats on WeChat, a Chinese messaging app widely used among defectors in the country.
Chinese authorities issue a foreign permanent residency ID card to foreigners who hold permanent residency status. Holders reportedly can use the card to verify their identity much like Chinese citizens do. This applies to everyday administrative matters such as banking, medical care, transportation, communication and employment.
China has long classified North Korean defectors in the country as illegal residents. That status forces them to live under the constant risk of forced repatriation if police catch them. Some defector women enter common-law marriages with Chinese men and raise children together. Even they have had no way to obtain legal residency status or an ID card and they live in constant fear of crackdowns.
Life without an ID card
The absence of legal status severely restricts daily life for defectors in China. Many cannot open a bank account or register a mobile phone under their own name. Some cannot even visit a hospital when sick. Legal employment is largely closed to them too. Many end up in temporary or day labor instead, and they have little recourse if employers withhold their wages.
The lack of status has led to tragic outcomes when families register a child’s birth. Officials find it difficult to register a status-less defector mother as the legal mother, so some families falsely report that the mother left home or died. Only the Chinese father then registers the child.
Defectors have lived for years under the threat of forced repatriation without any legal protection. That reality has fueled such strong hope over the rumored ID cards.
A defector in her 40s living in Liaoning province said she did not believe the rumor at first. “But after seeing the photo of the actual ID card posted in the WeChat group, I started to hope,” she said. She has lived in China for years with no status of her own. She has had to depend entirely on her Chinese husband and his family, but now she is hopeful she might finally open a bank card under her own name.
Another defector in their 50s living in Heilongjiang province described a similar hardship around health care. “As I’ve gotten older I have more health problems,” the defector said. “But without status I have to find a doctor through personal connections, and I end up paying whatever price they ask.” The defector added that they do not need a permanent residency card. They simply want to use a hospital through normal channels.
The source cautioned that similar rumors have surfaced before and faded without result. “Rumors that defectors would be given ID cards have come and gone several times in the past,” the source said. The current rumor remains unconfirmed, the source said. “We need to watch calmly for whether there are actual cases of people receiving a foreign permanent residency ID card.”
Reporting from inside North Korea
Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.
Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea — discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.
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July 22, 2026 at 10:53PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)