[justinchan]

Thanks everyone, I am chinese but was born in Australia and my parents were born in hk and lived there for more than 7 years.. I am also under 18. Will I definitely get a HK ID? I have emailed the Immigration Dept of HK but no response yet..

[lybenben]

Hi Justin,

1) The only route that you may possibly qualify for a HK Permanent ID card is, as you've said, category (c)- persons of Chinese nationality born outside HK to parents who are HK Chinese permanent residents.

2) From what you've said, it appears that your parents are CHINESE citizens (and were Chinese citizens when you were born). Note that despite the fact that the then HK British Govt MIGHT have regarded them as holding some sort of British nationality status, from China's perspective, even if this is the case, ALL ETHNIC CHINESE residents in HK (in general) ARE regarded under Chinese law as Chinese citizens.

3) If you were born in HK or elsewhere in China, (since your parents were Chinese), you would be a Chinese citizen.
However, as you were born in Australia (i.e. outside CHINA), the question of whether or not you're a Chinese citizen is a little more complicated:

According to Chinese nationality law, if you were born to parents
(i) who were Chinese citizens,
(ii) who were settled abroad (i.e. residing overseas) at the time of your birth;
AND
you gain foreign nationality automatically because of your birth overseas
--- you'll be regarded as FOREIGN CITIZEN, and NOT a Chinese citizen.

4) As far as I know, under Australian law, for a person born in Australia to automatically become an Australian citizen by birth, one of the person's parents must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. If one of your parents satisfy this requirement--- you would have got Australian citizenship automatically by birth--- which means under Chinese law, you are not a Chinese citizen.

(On the other hand, if none of your parents were permanent residents/citizens of Australia when you were born in Australia, then you Should have Chinese citizenship)

5) So- applying the above
* If you are a Chinese citizen - YES- you automatically qualify for HK PR status
* If you are NOT a Chinese citizen - NO- you have to live in HK for 7 years for HK PR status

6) Whether or not you qualify for HK PR status has nothing to do with your age (if you are a Chinese citizen, OR you are non-Chinese and were not born in HK)

hope this helps

[justinchan]

thanks but im really confused now.. my parents were born in HK so they are chinese citizens.. doesn't that already give me the right to become one as well? My parents were already permenant residents in Australia when I was born.

[cosmokat]

.........

My parents (who are chinese and did have HKROA from many years ago before moving to the US) just came back to HK to renew their HKID. I was born in HK, so I automatically have ROA. Now, when my parents were at immigration, they did ask whether or not my younger sibling (who was born in the states) could qualify for a permanent HKID card (via them) and they said she no longer qualified because she's not considered a minor (under 18). So, unless they had no idea what they were talking about....I'm just passing along what they told us (and this was about a month ago).

Like I said..best you confirm yourself with immigration.

[lybenben]

To answer Justin's question:

Chinese nationality laws do not recognise dual nationality, and certainly do not encourage dual nationality. And persons born overseas to Chinese parents DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY qualify as Chinese citizens by virtue of descent (unlike e.g. British citizenship / Australian citizenship).

Article 5 of the Chinese Nationality Law reads:
Any person born abroad whose parents are both Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national shall have Chinese nationality.

But a person whose parents are both Chinese nationals　and　HAVE BOTH SETTLED ABROAD, or one of whose parents is a Chinese　national　and　has　settled abroad, and WHO HAS ACQUIRED FOREIGN NATIONALITY AT BIRTH shall　not　have Chinese nationality.

So, the crucial question is: did you acquire foreign nationality at birth (i.e. in your case- Australian citizenship)?
* If yes- then under Chinese law, you are an Australian citizen, and not a Chinese citizen --- you'll have to live in HK for 7 years to qualify as a non-Chinese HK PR.
* If no- then you should be a Chinese citizen--- you qualify as a Chinese HK PR (category (c)).

[lybenben]

Of course, Justin, there are some other matters which have to be clarified with regards to your position:

1) You said you are under 18. Were you born before 30 Jun 1997, or after?
2) If you were born after 1997, what I said on the above (about Chinese nationality laws and its consequential effects on HK PR status) would apply.
3) If you were born BEFORE 30 June 197 (i.e. before HK returns to China), the following must be considered:

* Firstly, did your parents (or one of your parents) have the status, under British law when you were born, of "Hong Kong British Dependent Territories Citizen"? If so, then this means you would have got this status by descent, regardless of whether or not you were born in HK.

* What is also important is whether or not you have REGISTERED as a "Hong Kong British Dependent Territories Citizen", or as a "British National (Overseas)" (a status introduced after 1986/1987). Under Hong Kong British laws-- a Hong Kong BDTC would qualify as a HK PR. The BN(O) status, on the other hand, is to allow persons who were "HK BDTC" to gain a British passport (BN(O)) for international travel for the rest of their lives.

If you have this status- then you would qualify for HK PR status, or at least some kind of residential status in HK.

* From what you 've said, you've never got a HK ID. It appears that you haven't registered as a "Hong Kong BDTC" or "BN(O)", because you must have held the HK ID card in order to apply for the Hongkong BDTC or
BN(O) passport. This would make your situation more difficult (in the sense that you have to prove your PR/residential status in HK)

* All the above is concerned with TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS for the status of different types of Hong Kong residents who have acquired (or could have had a claim to) HK residency status BEFORE 30 June 1997. If you think you have HK BDTC or BN(O), which may entitle you to HK PR status, you may contact the HK Immigration dept, giving them FULL details about your nationality/residency status (particularly HKBDTC or BNO, as well as Chinese and Australian nationality).

[justinchan]

I was born before 1997 but do not know if i have registered for HK BDTC or BN(O)...

[lybenben]

Then perhaps you may ask your parents whether or not they've registered you as HK BDTC or BNO
If yes- greater chance of securing a HK PR ID card, or at least some residency status in HK
If not- then it may be more difficult

[justinchan]

i just received a reply from the immigration department.
I think I should be able to get an ID through my parents being HK citizens even though I was born in Australia. But the question is whether this option is still valid because they became permenant residents of Australia.

[lybenben]

If you qualify as a HK PR, the fact that your parents are Australian permanent residents does NOT in any way affect your eligibility (or their eligibility) to become HK PR.