"China Card" for Permanent Residents Traveling on US Passport

[thanka2]

I will e mail the HK gov. for more information but I thought I would ask here as well:

My children are both US citizens with permanent Hong Kong residency holding US passports for travel.

Is it possible to get a "China travel card" that adult Hong Kongers have that allows them to pass through the border without a visa?

If so, how did you go about getting this?

Thanks for any tips!

 

[lesliefu]

I don't believe they can get it - reason being they do not hold a HKSAR passport. Being born in HK they would be entitled to the HKSAR passport and thus the China travel card - are they born in HK? If so, it you would just need to get the HKSAR passport (takes 2 weeks) and then go to China travels to get the China travel card (takes 1 week) and it should be pretty much straight forward.

 

[carang]

they have to have an HKSAR passport, i was told by immig, in order to get the HOME RETURN PERMIT.

 

[evgreen]

I don't have a HKSAR passport. I carry a Canadian passport but I have a permanent HKID as I am considered a Chinese National and born in HK. I would call the China Travel Service HQ for further information on eligibility.

http://www.ctshk.com/english/index.htm

 

[evgreen]

Forgot to mention that yes, I DO have a china travel card. I just renewed mine 2 weeks ago.

 

[thanka2]

I don't believe they can get it - reason being they do not hold a HKSAR passport. Being born in HK they would be entitled to the HKSAR passport and thus the China travel card - are they born in HK? If so, it you would just need to get the HKSAR passport (takes 2 weeks) and then go to China travels to get the China travel card (takes 1 week) and it should be pretty much straight forward.

One was born in Hong Kong--however, we have chosen not to get Chinese nationality which from my primary search on the subject is one of the requirements for obtaining a HKSAR passport. Can't have dual nationality, unfortunately.

 

[thanka2]

I don't have a HKSAR passport. I carry a Canadian passport but I have a permanent HKID as I am considered a Chinese National and born in HK. I would call the China Travel Service HQ for further information on eligibility.

http://www.ctshk.com/english/index.htm

So, you have Chinese citizenship, not Canadian citizenship? Or is it possible to have "dual" citizenship between these countries?

 

[banane76]

You could always try. I would get their HKSAR passport and then try. We are planning to do that with our kids.

 

[nicolejoy]

If your kids get the Chinese nationality FIRST (ie, at birth), then you can get a 2nd nationality. However if you have another nationality and then want to get Chinese nationality, it is much harder to do without renouncing your original nationality.

And yes, you NEED Chinese nationality to get a HKSAR passport or a "China card". Non-nationals, even those with permanent ID cards, are not eligible.

Our kids have both Chinese and Australian nationalities, since they were Chinese at birth and then became Australian by descent. From my understanding though, if they were born in Australia and then wanted to apply for Chinese nationality, they would need to renounce their Australian nationality in order for them to do that. That was one of the main reasons why our kids were born in Hong Kong - it's the easiest way for them to be dual citizens, something that may be of benefit to them in the future. It gives them more options...

 

[evgreen]

I only have Canadian citizenship. I am considered a chinese national only by descent and the fact that I was born in HK. I wouldn't be able to apply for Chinese citizenship unless I gave up my Canadian one. I am eligible for the HKsar passport, but have never applied for one. HK residency can be so confusing sometimes!