[Lek]

help...enjoying my stay in the philippines for 8 years has surely made me lost my Right of Abode in Hong Kong hehe...i have been holding a permanent ID card...what i want to know is this Right to Land...it says on the immigration website that if i have been living outside the HKSAR for more than 36 months i'd lose my Right of Abode...Will this still make me a resident?...the Right to Land says, basically, that i have the right to land in HK...Is there a difference between the Right of Abode and the Right to Land?

[PDLM]

The only difference is that with RTL you can be deported more readily if you do something seriously wrong.

[Lek]

even if i'm a non-chinese?...i was told that ill need a working permit to work in HK again, this true?

[PDLM]

My understanding is that if you have Right to Land then you do not need any visas to be in HK for any purpose, including employment.

Why not email the Immigration Dept for confirmation? enquiry@immd.gov.hk

[Lek]

i did email them but i'm still waiting for a reply...this "right to land" has confused alot of people like me, whether non-chinese or chinese. I still get conflicting responses from friends who, like me, have been away for more than 3 years...

[ap999]

i am non chinese, lost my ROA now got the RTL. Currently living and Working in HK with no problems.

my understanding is RTL u can work, study and live freely in HKSAR regardless of being chinese or not.

[Lek]

If i may ask ap999, do you have a 3-star on your ID before? And is that needed?

[ap999]

Originally Posted by Lek

If i may ask ap999, do you have a 3-star on your ID before? And is that needed?

*** = ROA? I presume so. I did not have a ID card before. I was born in HK and left when i was young. Only recently returned to find out that as by birth i was automatically a Permnament Residense ROA, *** (or what ever you want to call it). So if i did apply before i would have got the *** ID Card. However, because i was absent from HK for more than 36 months i lost the, again, Permnament Residense, ROA, *** (or what ever you want to call it).

As a result i was given the RTL.

Hope this helps

[PDLM]

No, *** is not the same as Right of Abode.

*** is the right to a Hong Kong Re-entry Permit, which is essentially a long term visa for the mainland.

From the ImmD FAQ here http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/faq_hktd.htm :

"HKSAR R/Ps are issued to the following Hong Kong residents for travel to the mainland of China and Macau Special Administrative Region:

* Chinese citizens who have either acquired the right of abode or been granted unconditional stay in Hong Kong; and
* Persons not of Chinese nationality who have been granted unconditional stay in Hong Kong but cannot obtain national passports or travel documents of any other countries or regions."

[Lek]

Yes it does help thank you very much...did the immigration at the airport give you the rtl or did you have to apply for an application for verification for a permanent id card in the head office in wan chai?