[Monsoon]

I was born in UK in 1971, but then grew up in HK spending the first 18 years of my life (1971-1989) there with my parents working as expats. I am not HK chinese in origin.(Half Indian/Half S'porean Chinese).

In 1989, got the old HK ID card at the age of 18 years. It has the code RFOY- I have not seen that anywhere on the immigration website nor here. No stars on my id card.

I left HK in 1989 for university in the UK and have been residing in UK since then. I have only been back for holidays in 1990,2000 & 2004. Used my British passport to enter HK, so it has the relevant chops on it. My whole family moved out of HK in 1990.

The 1971 call up for the smart id is next month. Just keen to one day work in HK again, so would love to get another id card.

Do you think I would be eligible for a smart id card?

Would HK immigration notice the chops on the passport at the application and would this be problematic?

I would actually fly down to HK in September just for the smart id.

Many thanks for any input/advice.

[Sunshine7]

I'm not sure what the law states on this, but I remember going to get my ID card, they looked over every single page and stamp in my passport (and I have travelled a lot, only had one page free). Not sure wether they do this with everyone but I think its a bit of a red flag...good luck

[KnowItAll]

enquiry@immd.gov.hk would probably the best place ask. They are pretty efficient with questions that involve a number of technical details like yours.

[greenietea]

do you have permanent residency? since you have lived in HK for more than 7 years, that means, you would most likely have HKPR.

in terms of getting the smart id card, as long as you still have your old one, you can come in anytime and get your smart id. the announced time period is not the only time that you can get the id. many of my friends are overseas and they have missed theirs, so i found out from the immigration department that, you just have to get it as soon as you are here.

however, if you do not have HKPR, meaning, your id card does not indicate that you have the permanent right to live in HK, chances are, you will not get the smart id.

and the immigration doesn't care how long you've been away from HK as long as you already have permanent residency. on the other hand, if your residency is not yet permanent, they do check to see if you have stayed in HK for seven consecutive years.

[Monsoon]

Thanks for the new input.

I phoned the immigration dept in August 2005. The agent seemed very surprised that someone who has lived away from HKG for so long could even consider asking to apply for a SMART ID. Disappointingly, the answer was that I would NOT be eligible.

Although I lived in HKG for 18 years, my current ID card does not have the three stars that I gather indicate permanent residency. So I guess the seven years residency doesn't confer any permanent residency status after all.

It is a shame as I now have the possibility of a job opening in HKG...

Thank you for all the advice anyway.

[PDLM]

Three stars doesn't indicate permanent residency - it (roughly) indicates HK citizenship (i.e. Chinese citizenship with the permanent right of abode in HK).

As a foreign citizen acquiring permanent residence by 7 years of residency you would not expect to have *** on your HKID.

The case of "R" code HKIDs (R for Resident British Citizen) is covered on the Immigration Dept website here: http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/topical_7.htm at Q16.

As I read it if you have an R code HKID then you can keep that and retain the right to re-entry only if you have no period of absence from HK exceeding 12 months.

[discobay]

This Immigration page might be useful.

[philippe]

Originally Posted by Monsoon

Thanks for the new input.

I phoned the immigration dept in August 2005. The agent seemed very surprised that someone who has lived away from HKG for so long could even consider asking to apply for a SMART ID. Disappointingly, the answer was that I would NOT be eligible.

Although I lived in HKG for 18 years, my current ID card does not have the three stars that I gather indicate permanent residency. So I guess the seven years residency doesn't confer any permanent residency status after all.

It is a shame as I now have the possibility of a job opening in HKG...

Thank you for all the advice anyway.

1. The three stars mean "Ethnic Chinese"

2. If you had the Right of Abobe (RoA) I guess you lost it because IIRC you need to spend at least a day in HK for every 3 years. Still, if you really had the RoA you still have the Right to Land (RtL) because the RtL is for life and has no condition.

Smart ID has nothing to do with all this as it is just a replacement like Octopus replaced the older MTR tickets.

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by philippe

1. The three stars mean "Ethnic Chinese"

No it doesn't. Nearly all *** are Ethnic Chinese, but it is perfectly possible to be an ethnically Chinese Permanent Resident in Hong Kong without being eligible for *** (for example a Singaporean or Malaysian Chinese who lived here for 7 years would get PR, but not (usually)***).

[lybenben]

***- means:

1) You have the Right of Abode or Unconditional Stay in HK,
AND you have Chinese nationality

or

2) you have Right of Abode (or Unconditional Stay??) in HK,
AND you are non-Chinese citizen,
BUT you cannot obtain any other travel document or passport from any other country