[littleswallow]

I have a question on restoring Hong Kong Chinese citizenship. I was born in Hong Kong, have a valid Hong Kong ID and HKSAR passport. I am also a United States citizen, currently residing in the U.S. I am trying to get a job in the U.S. that requires a security clearance. In order to obtain a security clearance, I may need to officially renounce my Hong Kong citizenship and return my HKSAR passport. I understand that the Hong Kong Government would let me restore my Hong Kong Chinese citizenship in the future. My question is whether the Hong Kong Government would require me to actually renounce my U.S. citizenship if I want to restore my Hong Kong Chinese citizenship. Thanks.

[PDLM]

I believe that they would require you formally to declare that you would do so were your Chinese nationality to be restored, but that they have no mechanism of actually checking that you have done so.

(Edit: the first part of this is confirmed here: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Immigration Department )

[littleswallow]

Originally Posted by PDLM

but that they have no mechanism of actually checking that you have done so.

Thanks for the reply. I think you imply that the Hong Kong Government would not ask me to provide proof of renouncement from the U.S. Government.

[PDLM]

That is what I was implying, but it's just hearsay - I have no first (or even second) hand experience of this.

[Aritaurus]

They do require naturalised citizens to show a loss of citizenship certificate before Chinese citizenship is approved. I'm not sure if this applies for restoration but they may put this requirement upon you. I doubt the immigration department will give out this kind of information so it's hard to find out.

[littleswallow]

Originally Posted by Aritaurus

I doubt the immigration department will give out this kind of information so it's hard to find out.

Thanks for the reply. I sent an e-mail to Hong Kong Immigration a few days ago but have not received a reply yet.

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by littleswallow

Thanks for the reply. I sent an e-mail to Hong Kong Immigration a few days ago but have not received a reply yet.

It takes time as they literally have hundreds of e-mails to deal with, could take up to another week till you get a response.

[littleswallow]

I finally got a reply from Hong Kong Immigration but they did not answer my question. It simply states the policy I already know, i.e. ... shall not retain foreign nationality.

[Pekkerhead]

Even if you renounce your HK/Chinese citizenship, surely you can still retain your Right of Abode. It's not like you wouldn't be allowed back to HK just because you renounce your Chinese Citizenship?

[pug_ster]

Multiple citizenship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's an wikipedia article about this. You can keep your citizenship because you are born there, but you cannot take advantages of being a citizen of HK. However if I were you, I would keep the HK ID while surrendering the HK passport.