are HK IDs issued to infants?
- Thread starter tammie
- Start date
barbwong_130
Registered User
On the HK Government web site, http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/topical_2.htm, it says:
Chinese citizens with the right of abode in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and holding Hong Kong permanent identity cards, whether or not they are holders of the "British National (Overseas) passport "or" Hong Kong Certificate of Identity" or other travel documents, are eligible to apply for the HKSAR passport.
Lower down the page it says:
For eligible children under 11 years of age who are not holding PICs, their applications for PICs must be submitted together with their applications for HKSAR passports. The application form must be signed by a parent or legal guardian. The PIC will be issued together with the HKSAR passport.
PIC = Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card
My husband tells me there are cases of non-Chinese descent holding SAR passports, for example Elsie Tu holds one but she had to give up her British passport to do so.
Barb
Chinese citizens with the right of abode in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and holding Hong Kong permanent identity cards, whether or not they are holders of the "British National (Overseas) passport "or" Hong Kong Certificate of Identity" or other travel documents, are eligible to apply for the HKSAR passport.
Lower down the page it says:
For eligible children under 11 years of age who are not holding PICs, their applications for PICs must be submitted together with their applications for HKSAR passports. The application form must be signed by a parent or legal guardian. The PIC will be issued together with the HKSAR passport.
PIC = Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card
My husband tells me there are cases of non-Chinese descent holding SAR passports, for example Elsie Tu holds one but she had to give up her British passport to do so.
Barb
Topical Issues
A General Guide to HKSAR Passport
Q8 I am a Chinese citizen holding a PIC and a foreign passport. Can I apply for a HKSAR passport?
A8 According to " the interpretation of Chinese Nationality Law when applying in the HKSAR" passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the Chinese Government on 15 May 1996, you will be regarded as a Chinese citizen if you return to settle in Hong Kong unless you make a declaration of change of nationality at the HKSAR Immigration Department. If you remain as a Chinese citizen, you are eligible for a HKSAR passport. You are advised to read the booklet on ROA in the HKSAR for a more detailed explanation of Chinese nationality matters.
(Note : " Settled", in relation to a person's claim to the ROA in the HKSAR, means ordinarily resident in Hong Kong and not subject to any restriction on the period of stay in Hong Kong.)
Q9 If I remain as a Chinese citizen, can I keep my foreign passport when I obtain a HKSAR passport?
A9 Yes, you can keep and travel on your foreign passport which will be regarded in Hong Kong and other parts of China as a travel document only. You are advised to read the booklet on ROA in the HKSAR for a more detailed explanation of Chinese nationality matters.
***********************************************
The above Q&As are from immd.gov.hk. What's your take on a person of chinese nationality who holds a HKSAR passport because he's a Chinese citizen, and who may also hold a foreign passport as a travel document?
In Elsie Tu's case, did she give up her british passport because she chose to work for the HK government?
If dual passport is accepted as defined above, how does it work in reality? When a person travels to China, e.g., he exits and returns to HK using his HKSAR/PIC, but when he travels to the US, e.g. he may choose to exit HK this time using his US passport in order to enter the US with the same passport?
A General Guide to HKSAR Passport
Q8 I am a Chinese citizen holding a PIC and a foreign passport. Can I apply for a HKSAR passport?
A8 According to " the interpretation of Chinese Nationality Law when applying in the HKSAR" passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the Chinese Government on 15 May 1996, you will be regarded as a Chinese citizen if you return to settle in Hong Kong unless you make a declaration of change of nationality at the HKSAR Immigration Department. If you remain as a Chinese citizen, you are eligible for a HKSAR passport. You are advised to read the booklet on ROA in the HKSAR for a more detailed explanation of Chinese nationality matters.
(Note : " Settled", in relation to a person's claim to the ROA in the HKSAR, means ordinarily resident in Hong Kong and not subject to any restriction on the period of stay in Hong Kong.)
Q9 If I remain as a Chinese citizen, can I keep my foreign passport when I obtain a HKSAR passport?
A9 Yes, you can keep and travel on your foreign passport which will be regarded in Hong Kong and other parts of China as a travel document only. You are advised to read the booklet on ROA in the HKSAR for a more detailed explanation of Chinese nationality matters.
***********************************************
The above Q&As are from immd.gov.hk. What's your take on a person of chinese nationality who holds a HKSAR passport because he's a Chinese citizen, and who may also hold a foreign passport as a travel document?
In Elsie Tu's case, did she give up her british passport because she chose to work for the HK government?
If dual passport is accepted as defined above, how does it work in reality? When a person travels to China, e.g., he exits and returns to HK using his HKSAR/PIC, but when he travels to the US, e.g. he may choose to exit HK this time using his US passport in order to enter the US with the same passport?
There is no problem having dual nationality if you have the Chinese citizenship as a birth right. My children have dual nationality one from me and the other from their father. So they can choose which passport they want to use to enter/leave a country.
The problem is when you apply for a nationality that isn?t yours from birth. Most countries, but not all, then ask you to give up all your other nationalities. This is the case with China. So if you aren?t a Chinese national from birth but apply later in life, e.g. Mrs. Elsie Tu, then you have to give up your old nationalities.
There are also some countries, I believe Kenya is one of them, which allow children born there to keep the nationality until 18 when they have to choose which to give up.
My children use their SAR passports when traveling with my husband and their British passports when traveling with me.
Hope this helps,
SARAH
The problem is when you apply for a nationality that isn?t yours from birth. Most countries, but not all, then ask you to give up all your other nationalities. This is the case with China. So if you aren?t a Chinese national from birth but apply later in life, e.g. Mrs. Elsie Tu, then you have to give up your old nationalities.
There are also some countries, I believe Kenya is one of them, which allow children born there to keep the nationality until 18 when they have to choose which to give up.
My children use their SAR passports when traveling with my husband and their British passports when traveling with me.
Hope this helps,
SARAH
This is all very interesting. We recently adopted a baby from Hong Kong and I asked the social welfare department to get him a SAR passport. A while ago I spoke to an American lady who told me her adopted child has a SAR passport but in the passport the child only has an English name because they got rid of the Chinese name thinking it wasn't important however, now because he doesn't have a Chinese name he needs to apply for a China visa every time he enters PRC. So I am going to make sure my son's chinese name be included in his passport. Is there anything else I need to make sure of? I want my son to take full advantage of his SAR passport without restrictions.
Is asking for the nationality when you apply for the birth certificate a new thing?
I wasn?t asked for any of my children (the youngest is now 4 years old).
Also my third child was born in England and he has a SAR passport, HK permanent ID card and a China Reentry Permit ? so place of birth isn?t important so long as you qualify as an established HK citizen for a permanent ID card and a Chinese citizen for an SAR passport and a China Reentry Permit. He does, however, have a Chinese name ? but it is only written in English on his birth certificate because they won?t do Chinese characters in England.
I don?t know how it is now that the China Reentry Permit is a pastic card but in the days when it was a paper booklet a child had to travel with an adult who also had a China Reentry Permit. So I had to get a visa for their English passport for the children to travel with me to China, even though they had the documents, if my husband wasn?t with me.
SARAH
I wasn?t asked for any of my children (the youngest is now 4 years old).
Also my third child was born in England and he has a SAR passport, HK permanent ID card and a China Reentry Permit ? so place of birth isn?t important so long as you qualify as an established HK citizen for a permanent ID card and a Chinese citizen for an SAR passport and a China Reentry Permit. He does, however, have a Chinese name ? but it is only written in English on his birth certificate because they won?t do Chinese characters in England.
I don?t know how it is now that the China Reentry Permit is a pastic card but in the days when it was a paper booklet a child had to travel with an adult who also had a China Reentry Permit. So I had to get a visa for their English passport for the children to travel with me to China, even though they had the documents, if my husband wasn?t with me.
SARAH