Hukou brings tricky choice

上大学，户口迁还是不迁?

It never occurred to Sun Yukun that the decision he made four years ago would have an impact on his career. When the 22-year-old entered college in 2009, he decided not to change his rural residence to a students’ collective one. But when he finished college and was offered a job with a state-owned enterprise in Beijing, Sun was told that he couldn’t accept the offer unless he had an urban hukou (household registration record). This time, he had no choice but to change his residence status.

22岁的孙宇坤(音译)从没想过，他四年前的一个决定会影响到自己日后的职业生涯。2009年，他上大学时决定放弃学生集体户口，保留原来的农村户口。但毕业后当他获得北京一家国企的工作机会时，却被告知只有城镇户口才能被录用。这回他只好迁了户口。

Transferring hukou to a university became optional in 2003, and many students are confronted with the dilemma of whether to do so or not. Professionals suggest they make the decision based on their current situation and future plans.

2003年起，各高校推行大学生户口迁移自愿政策，许多学生面临着“迁还是不迁”的两难境地。专业人士建议学生，应基于当前情况和未来计划做决定。

‘I regret transferring my hukou’

“我后悔迁户口了”

Wang Jinbi, 20, is an accounting major at Beijing Union University. Coming from Chifeng, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, she transferred her hukou when she enrolled at university.

20岁的王锦毕(音译)就读于北京联合大学财会专业。来自内蒙古赤峰的她在入学注册时选择了迁移户口。

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” Wang says. “Since I’m registering under an urban hukou, it doesn’t matter whether it’s in Beijing or Inner Mongolia, I thought.”

王锦毕说：“我当时认为不是什么大事。既然自己是城镇户口，那么不论在北京还是在内蒙没什么两样。”

What Wang didn’t expect, however, is that she would regret her decision later. “After two years of study, I’ve figured out my future plans. I want to return to my hometown and make a living there,” she says. That means Wang needs to transfer her hukou back again, which she worries will be a troublesome procedure.

但王锦毕万万没想到的是她将为这一决定而后悔不已。她说：“两年的大学生活后，我制定了自己的未来计划。我想回老家生活。”这就意味着王锦毕需要把户口迁回老家，她担心过程会十分棘手。

“I have a friend who graduated last year. She spent a lot of time and energy transferring her hukou back to her hometown again due to complicated paperworks,” says Wang.

王锦毕说：“我有个朋友去年毕业。为了把户口重新迁回老家，她花了大量的时间和精力来准备各种繁杂的手续。”

Guidelines for transferring hukou

户口迁移指南

Wang’s experience is not uncommon. Many students don’t know what their decision means for their future.

王锦毕的经历十分常见。很多学生并不知道他们的决定对自己的未来意味着什么。

In order to help these students, Xie Yongqiang, from the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Justice, posted a guideline for transferring hukou on a micro blog. According to Xie, students should firstly think about where they’re going to stay. “If you like the city where you’re studying and are considering staying there after graduation, then you should transfer your hukou,” he wrote.

为了帮助这些学生，来自成都市司法局的谢永强(音译)在微博上发表了一则《迁户口指南》。谢永强表示，学生首先要考虑好自己的去向。他写道：“如果你喜欢上学的城市并且毕业后考虑留下的话，你就应该迁过去。”

Students should also transfer their hukou if they intend to participate in an exchange program. According to Ju Haojie, deputy director of the household registration department at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, when applying for exchange programs, it saves a lot of trouble if students have a collective hukou registered under the university.

有些学生如果想要参加交换生项目的话，那么也应该选择迁户口。上海交通大学户政科副科长鞠浩杰表示，在申请交换生项目时，如果有学校集体户口会省去很多麻烦。

But Xie also made suggestions for students with a rural registration. “If your family has land and a house, it’s possible that you’ll get a share of compensation in the event of a forced relocation. For those students, I would recommend them not to transfer their hukou,” he wrote. This doesn’t affect students in terms of receiving medical insurance and other benefits at university.

但是谢永强同时也给农村户口的学生提出了一些建议。他在微博中写道：“如果你家里有田有房，就有拆迁补偿可能。对于这些学生，我建议不要迁户口。”这并不影响学生在校享受医疗保险或者其他福利待遇。

‘I want to stay in Beijing’

“我想留在北京”

Sometimes, students abandon their rural hukou for the prospect of a better future. Tang Yanwei is one of them. The 23-year-old from Yantai, Shandong province, had a rural hukou but transferred it after enrolling at Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture.

有时，一些学生为了更好的前程而放弃了农村户口。唐延伟便是其中之一。23岁的他来自山东烟台，本是农村户口的他在进入北京工程建筑学院学习后，选择了迁户口。

Although there are a lot of preferential policies for rural residents, for Tang, an urban hukou in Beijing is attractive. “I want to stay in Beijing, so a students’ collective Beijing urban hukou is a promising start,” he says. “I’ll do anything that could help me stay here. After all, there’s no turning back for me now.”

虽然农村户口享有诸多优惠政策，但对唐延伟而言，北京户口更有吸引力。他说：“我想留在北京，因此北京市学生集体户口是个良好开端。我会使尽浑身解数让自己留下来。毕竟，我已无路可退了。”