[rice_riot]

If my mother, a HK resident (way before 1983), obtained US citizenship a year before I was born (way before 1997), would I have a valid application for ROA? My mother never renounced her Chinese status upon receiving citizenship, and always intended to return to live in HK later in life. I.e. could I claim to be "a person who was born overseas on or after 1 January 1983 and BEFORE 1 July 1997 to a parent who was born to be a British Dependent Territories Citizen, Hong
Kong and remained such a citizen at the time of the person's birth."?

What exactly does a British Dependent Territories Citizen entail? My mother did live in Hong Kong continuously for over 7 years before I was born, although she was born in guangzhou...

[lybenben]

Hi

1) The "British Dependent Territories Citizen" was a status granted by the British Nationality Act 1981 to certain HK residents. This is largely redundant now, given that no one continued to have this status after 1997 (according to British law), and in any case the Nationality Act has been amended again in 2002/2003/2004, and this status has been changed.

2) From the information given, your mother should qualify to become (or she is in fact) a permanent resident in Hongkong

3) Whether you are a PR in HK would depend on your nationality

4) Don't know where you were born.
if born in the US, then since your mother gained US citizenship before you were born,
then you were born as a US citizen, and you do NOT have chinese citizenship.

5) You need to be a Chinese citizen in order to automatically qualify to become a HK PR after you were born. Since you are not CHinese (I mean Chinese citizen)- you do not have a valid application for ROA at present

6) However, you can live in HK for 7 years continuously and become a HK PR by settlement (you would have to apply for residence in HK(

[carang]

i would like to clarify something.... i don't think that you have to be a chinese citizen in order to get PR status upon birth. rather you need to be born to parents that are HK PR.

i am canadian, but i have been here for 10 years and am therefore a PR. my husband was born here and is a PR. my son, a mixed child with CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP, was born in HK and both of his parents are PR. he therefore is a PR too. We have not and have no intention of seeking CHINESE CITIZENSHIP for our son.

[carang]

that post was meant as a question....

how do we fit into your assessment of who qualifies and how?

[lybenben]

Thanks for your comment

1) I said that you have to be a Chinese citizen when you were born in order to be a PR in HK. I was actually referring to the question posed by Rice-Riot: he/she was born outside HK. This is when the question of nationality becomes important.

2) As to persons born in HK, this would depend on a variety of factors: your parents' status in HK (PR or not), as well as your nationality

According to Art 24(2) (5) of the HK Basic Law, a child born of a parent who is a non-Chinese PR in HK, and who is under the age of 21 years old, would be a PR in HK.

(Note: as for non-Chinese citizens born in HK BEFORE 30 June 1997, you will have to refer to the Hongkong immmigration Ordinance then in force:
at that time, you can be a PR in HK if
(i) you were ethnic Chinese having resided in HK for 7 years
or (ii) you had the status of a "Hong Kong British Dependent Terrorities Citizen"

If you are Chinese, then once you are a PR, you'll be PR all your life, unless you subsequently lose your Chinese nationality.
If you are non-Chinese, then you will lose your ROA or PR status if you have left HK for over 36 months continuously. You may, nonetheless, retain the RIGHT TO LAND in HK, which is the same as ROA, but:
(i) You may be deported under certain circumstances;
(ii) And you cannot vote in HK
(iii) and you may not entitled to what PRs in HK are entitled to, e.g. welfare benefits, etc.)

[lybenben]

Thanks, Carang, as to who qualifies and who does not qualify, one must refer to the HKSAR Basic Law (Art 24(2)). In certain cases, you may also need to refer to the Nationality Law of China, when nationality is an issue.

As in rice_riot's case, his/her question mainly surrounds the issue of nationality, since he/she was born OUTSIDE Hongkong. His/her question was whether he/she has the ROA in HK by virtue of his/her mother's status. This is why nationality issues become important in the analysis

Of course, even if rice_riot does not qualify to be a PR by virtue of his/her mother's status in HK, he/she can live in HK for 7 years and gain PR status. This is the way prescribed by Art 24(2)(4) of the HK Basic Law (and this might have been the way through which you, Carang, might have gained your PR status!)