Hong Kong ID Cards?

[nzwasp]

My MIL wants to get her HKID card so its easier to travel into China from HK but as I understand it from reading the documentation on how to apply unless you are planning to live in hong kong and have a visa that allows this - current travel visa for a Canadian Passport is 3 months - that its pretty much impossible.

[TomcoPDR]

If she wants to freely travel from Hk into mainland China, she’ll need another card on top of hkid

[nzwasp]

Well considering she doesn’t a) have a Hong Kong passport or b) an Hong Kong ID card and have never had either despite living in hk from 1953-1979 I think she’s shit out of luck

[Xtrema]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainland_Travel_Permit_for_Hong_Kong_and_Macao_Residents

This is what Tomco is talking about but "officially" to get one, you have to give up your Canadian citizenship.

HK ID card is easy if she wants a new one given she got the old one on hand. If not a HK birth certificate will suffice as well. Having neither would be tough.

EDIT: after your post, she is SOL.

Also, given the current situation in HK, I doubt having either ID will buy you much thru Chinese customs vs a Canadian passport.

[nzwasp]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainland_Travel_Permit_for_Hong_Kong_and_Macao_Residents

This is what Tomco is talking about but "officially" to get one, you have to give up your Canadian citizenship.

HK ID card is easy if she wants a new one given she got the old one on hand. If not a HK birth certificate will suffice as well. Having neither would be tough.

EDIT: after your post, she is SOL.

Also, given the current situation in HK, I doubt having either ID will buy you much thru Chinese customs vs a Canadian passport.

When I was reading it - to get the ID card you need "right to abode" which takes 3 months and can be done from canada and then you need to apply for the ID card.

Who is Required to Apply for Hong Kong Identity Card
Under the Registration of Persons Ordinance, all Hong Kong residents aged 11 or over (including those who have been permitted to stay in Hong Kong for more than 180 days) are required to register for an identity card, except those who are exempted or excluded.

Ie requiring a visa in your passport longer than 180 days.

And then there is this bit:

Remaining Overseas beyond 31 December 1998
A person can enjoy the right of abode in the HKSAR when he/she returns if:

he/she was a Hong Kong permanent resident immediately before 1 July 1997 and remains a Chinese citizen (i.e., not having declared change of nationality). He/She will continue to enjoy the right of abode in the HKSAR notwithstanding that he/she holds a foreign passport.
He/She may, however, choose to be regarded as a foreign national when he/she returns to the HKSAR by making a declaration of change of nationality. When the declaration has been approved, he/she will enjoy consular protection in the HKSAR. However, he/she may lose the status as a permanent resident if he/she has been absent from Hong Kong for a continuous period of more than 36 months counting back from the date he/she returned to settle in Hong Kong. In that event, he/she will automatically acquire the right to land. He/She will still be able to enter the HKSAR freely to live, study and work, without any restriction. He/She will also be able to re-acquire the right of abode in the HKSAR if he/she subsequently satisfies the requirements of categories (d) or (e) for non-Chinese citizens.

Which to me means that she gave up her right to be considered a hong kong resident when she was absent from China for more than 36 months.

There seems to be a lot of our friends and their parents that all went back to hong kong to get ID cards in 1997 after the declaration of the HKSAR.

[BokCh0y]

She should be ab le to apply for the hkid - right to abode card as long as she has some sort of documentation like a birth certificate that she was born in HK. The right to abode card is similar to a PR card and allows her to remain in hk longer than whatever it is via the Canadian passport, and if she wants to, she can apply for the right to land card - hkid card with the 3 stars on it I think, and this gives her a bit more rights. But in terms of traveling, it is easier with the hkid to go to and from macau for example, and I think China as well, but it doesn't allow you to stay in China longer than what is allotted via the Canadian passport.

Please correct me if I am wrong guys. Thanks.