[martyn]

Originally Posted by PDLM

martyn and benjaminlo are both describing the situation for *** Permanent Residents (which means, essentially, HK resident Chinese citizens plus a few stateless people). Non-permanent residents and non-Chinese Permanent Residents are not entitled to "home return visas" and hence need a passport to enter China.

Non-chinese Permanent Residents will only get stamps from China though, not Hong Kong.

Thanks for clearing that up PDLM. However, I was told I'm not elligble for "home return visa", for which reason I cannot remember now.

[helenll]

Don't know about you, but I have a Canadian passport and HKID (permanent, though I don't know if this makes a difference). Recommended by a friend to get a 3-year visa to China (multiple entry), so now I don't need to get my passport stamped so frequently. You may want to go to the China Travel Services HQ in Wanchai and ask if that service is available for your type of passport. Otherwise, you may go to some travel agents who do the China visa and you should be able to get a 1-year multiple visa. Hope that helps.

[BenderBends]

yeah...i didnt realize i could renew the passport here...

i was worried i would have to go back to us to do that every time.


easy enough i guess to do it here...still a pain.

[BenderBends]

yeah i have the visa...but even with the visa you still need to get the stamps...

unless you get the china id visa...which needs no stamps or passport.

but again..you get that after 7 years.

[KnowItAll]

>> yeah...i didnt realize i could renew the passport here...

You've not lived a worldly life have you?

(Sorry... had to throw that in after your rant about Hong Kong not being an international city)

[BenderBends]

i dont understand what you mean KIA...

i have lived in china and paris before...but never had to deal with constantly getting my passport stamped and filled in 3 months....

[Sazzy]

Word of warning - mobile phones are not allowed in the US Consulate - you have to leave them outside. Best just to leave at home that day.

[BenderBends]

you cant bring them in at all? or just need to turn them off?

[kostas]

What can be turned off can be easily turned on, isn't it?

[martyn]

Originally Posted by kostas

What can be turned off can be easily turned on, isn't it?

This logic is a little flawed. E.g: What can be broken easily can be easily fixed?