Is there an age limit for a HK person to apply for a HK ID card? Does anyone know? My baby is less than 2 months old, and we want to bring him to visit his grandparents in China in summer time. Any advice on the sort of travel document he needs, besides the option of having an ID card?
are HK IDs issued to infants?
- Thread starter tammie
- Start date
IDs are issued for infants, too, but they have to change their IDs when they're 11 years old. You can apply passport & ID for your baby in HK Immigration in Wan Chai. For ID, you have to bring your baby's birth certificate, and... I'm sorry, I forget. Maybe you can contact HK Immigration office. We applied one for our baby last summer before he was 5 months old.
Is he a HK citizen?
If your baby's a HK citizen, you can apply for..., sorry again, I don't know how they call it in English; it's like a passport, (brown in colour) but only to be used when a HK citizen go to China (and they don't need to bring passport, just this book and HK ID). And sometimes infant just included in the mother's book, which means that you have to have one with your baby's inside. You can apply this book through Zhong Guo Lu Xing She (the big one is in Mongkok, but sometimes you can find one inside MTR station, this is where people can buy train/bus tickets to China). With this book, you don't have to apply visa to visit China, but it's only for HK citizen. My husband said that now they don't issue a book, but issue a card.
So, you might want to go to Zhong Guo Lu Xing She/ HK Immigration office to ask about your situation.
Hope this will help.
Is he a HK citizen?
If your baby's a HK citizen, you can apply for..., sorry again, I don't know how they call it in English; it's like a passport, (brown in colour) but only to be used when a HK citizen go to China (and they don't need to bring passport, just this book and HK ID). And sometimes infant just included in the mother's book, which means that you have to have one with your baby's inside. You can apply this book through Zhong Guo Lu Xing She (the big one is in Mongkok, but sometimes you can find one inside MTR station, this is where people can buy train/bus tickets to China). With this book, you don't have to apply visa to visit China, but it's only for HK citizen. My husband said that now they don't issue a book, but issue a card.
So, you might want to go to Zhong Guo Lu Xing She/ HK Immigration office to ask about your situation.
Hope this will help.
Thanks. When you applied ID card for your baby last year, did you have to bring the baby with you? How long did it take, the whole process? Did they take a photo at the spot or did you prepare a photo in advance? Was an appointment booking necessary before you could show up/with the baby?
My children are Hong Kong citizens with Chinese ancestry. That is they have ?established? written on their Hong Kong birth certificates and they are entitled to the three asterisks on their HKID cards.
With the birth certificate and their father?s HKID card we were able to get:
1) An SAR passport. This comes with a HKID card. If the child is under 11 years old there is no photograph on the card.
2) A China Reentry Permit ? this is the size of a credit card with a photo on it.
If your child has a mixed heritage then I?d suggest that the Chinese parent deal with the Chinese authorities and the non-Chinese parent not be anywhere in site. I don?t want to call them racist but things seem to be much smoother when the ?alien? isn?t there. This doesn?t matter for the Hong Kong authorities.
When you go over the Hong Kong border the child still needs to take his/her passport but with the ID card you don?t need to fill in the departure and arrival cards. Once the child is 11 years old he/she will get a new ID card with a photo on it and then the passport isn?t necessary.
It was necessary for the child to be there when we applied for all the above documents but if I remember correctly it was possible to get the photos and the photocopies needed at the immigration places.
It didn?t take that long to apply for the documents but then it took a while (maybe a week or two) to go back and collect them.
SARAH
With the birth certificate and their father?s HKID card we were able to get:
1) An SAR passport. This comes with a HKID card. If the child is under 11 years old there is no photograph on the card.
2) A China Reentry Permit ? this is the size of a credit card with a photo on it.
If your child has a mixed heritage then I?d suggest that the Chinese parent deal with the Chinese authorities and the non-Chinese parent not be anywhere in site. I don?t want to call them racist but things seem to be much smoother when the ?alien? isn?t there. This doesn?t matter for the Hong Kong authorities.
When you go over the Hong Kong border the child still needs to take his/her passport but with the ID card you don?t need to fill in the departure and arrival cards. Once the child is 11 years old he/she will get a new ID card with a photo on it and then the passport isn?t necessary.
It was necessary for the child to be there when we applied for all the above documents but if I remember correctly it was possible to get the photos and the photocopies needed at the immigration places.
It didn?t take that long to apply for the documents but then it took a while (maybe a week or two) to go back and collect them.
SARAH
Sorry, Tammie. That's all I could tell you. Because I'm not a HK citizen, I have to go to HK Immigration office for a lot of things: my ID, baby's ID&passport, etc. so everything kinda mixed into one.
Since you have a small baby, I suggest maybe your husband can go to HK Immigration office and ask them. He can take the forms you needed, too, and you can fill them at home. They have the forms in English. Make sure that you take all the forms you needed, so you don't have to go there again.
If I'm not wrong, you can apply for ID&passport together. Then you can mail the application forms, together with your baby's passport pictures (you can take your baby to any picture shops and have them take his picture, passport size), and cheque. You also have to choose where you want to take the ID&passport (first choice, second choice...). When they're ready, they'll send you a letter saying that you can pick the ID&passport in.... Then you have to bring your baby. And if the baby cannot go, if think you have to bring some identification, or...well, ask your husband to ask them when he's in Wan Chai.
Really sorry, I just wish I could give more information.
(btw, I applied the ID&passport for my baby when he was 5 months old, around March last year)
Since you have a small baby, I suggest maybe your husband can go to HK Immigration office and ask them. He can take the forms you needed, too, and you can fill them at home. They have the forms in English. Make sure that you take all the forms you needed, so you don't have to go there again.
If I'm not wrong, you can apply for ID&passport together. Then you can mail the application forms, together with your baby's passport pictures (you can take your baby to any picture shops and have them take his picture, passport size), and cheque. You also have to choose where you want to take the ID&passport (first choice, second choice...). When they're ready, they'll send you a letter saying that you can pick the ID&passport in.... Then you have to bring your baby. And if the baby cannot go, if think you have to bring some identification, or...well, ask your husband to ask them when he's in Wan Chai.
Really sorry, I just wish I could give more information.
(btw, I applied the ID&passport for my baby when he was 5 months old, around March last year)
You can obtain forms from http://www.esdlife.com/campaign/1004/eng/get_form.asp
then, mail the completed form, photo and cheque to the immigration dept, in which case, you will be told to take your baby along when passport and HKID application is approved, ready for collection.
You can also book an appointment at the same website and bring your baby along when submitting the completed form at the immigration dept, in which case, you don't need to take your baby when collecting the new passport and HKID.
So, all in all, you have to bring your baby to the immigration dept once.
Hope this helps
then, mail the completed form, photo and cheque to the immigration dept, in which case, you will be told to take your baby along when passport and HKID application is approved, ready for collection.
You can also book an appointment at the same website and bring your baby along when submitting the completed form at the immigration dept, in which case, you don't need to take your baby when collecting the new passport and HKID.
So, all in all, you have to bring your baby to the immigration dept once.
Hope this helps
You apply for the HKID card at the same time when you apply for the HK Sar Passport. The application form for the HKID card comes inside the passport information booklet.
The infant HKID bears no photo, when your kid reaches 11, you will have to apply to change it into one with photo.
After your baby obtains the HKSAR passport, you can then bring it to China Travel to apply for a "return home permit" for travelling to China. (If you can prove that the baby's has Chinese citizenship)
Hope this helps too!
The infant HKID bears no photo, when your kid reaches 11, you will have to apply to change it into one with photo.
After your baby obtains the HKSAR passport, you can then bring it to China Travel to apply for a "return home permit" for travelling to China. (If you can prove that the baby's has Chinese citizenship)
Hope this helps too!