"China Card" for Permanent Residents Traveling on US Passport

T

thanka2

Registered User
I will e mail the HK gov. for more information but I thought I would ask here as well:

My children are both US citizens with permanent Hong Kong residency holding US passports for travel.

Is it possible to get a "China travel card" that adult Hong Kongers have that allows them to pass through the border without a visa?

If so, how did you go about getting this?

Thanks for any tips!
 
I don't believe they can get it - reason being they do not hold a HKSAR passport. Being born in HK they would be entitled to the HKSAR passport and thus the China travel card - are they born in HK? If so, it you would just need to get the HKSAR passport (takes 2 weeks) and then go to China travels to get the China travel card (takes 1 week) and it should be pretty much straight forward.
 
they have to have an HKSAR passport, i was told by immig, in order to get the HOME RETURN PERMIT.
 
lesliefu said:
I don't believe they can get it - reason being they do not hold a HKSAR passport. Being born in HK they would be entitled to the HKSAR passport and thus the China travel card - are they born in HK? If so, it you would just need to get the HKSAR passport (takes 2 weeks) and then go to China travels to get the China travel card (takes 1 week) and it should be pretty much straight forward.
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One was born in Hong Kong--however, we have chosen not to get Chinese nationality which from my primary search on the subject is one of the requirements for obtaining a HKSAR passport. Can't have dual nationality, unfortunately. :(
 
You could always try. I would get their HKSAR passport and then try. We are planning to do that with our kids.
 
If your kids get the Chinese nationality FIRST (ie, at birth), then you can get a 2nd nationality. However if you have another nationality and then want to get Chinese nationality, it is much harder to do without renouncing your original nationality.

And yes, you NEED Chinese nationality to get a HKSAR passport or a "China card". Non-nationals, even those with permanent ID cards, are not eligible.

Our kids have both Chinese and Australian nationalities, since they were Chinese at birth and then became Australian by descent. From my understanding though, if they were born in Australia and then wanted to apply for Chinese nationality, they would need to renounce their Australian nationality in order for them to do that. That was one of the main reasons why our kids were born in Hong Kong - it's the easiest way for them to be dual citizens, something that may be of benefit to them in the future. It gives them more options...
 
I only have Canadian citizenship. I am considered a chinese national only by descent and the fact that I was born in HK. I wouldn't be able to apply for Chinese citizenship unless I gave up my Canadian one. I am eligible for the HKsar passport, but have never applied for one. HK residency can be so confusing sometimes!
 
evgreen - if you have a HK permanent ID with three stars (right of abode), then you have Chinese nationality. It's not exactly the same as being a "Chinese Citizen", but the HK equivalent.
 
nicolejoy said:
If your kids get the Chinese nationality FIRST (ie, at birth), then you can get a 2nd nationality. However if you have another nationality and then want to get Chinese nationality, it is much harder to do without renouncing your original nationality.

And yes, you NEED Chinese nationality to get a HKSAR passport or a "China card". Non-nationals, even those with permanent ID cards, are not eligible.

Our kids have both Chinese and Australian nationalities, since they were Chinese at birth and then became Australian by descent. From my understanding though, if they were born in Australia and then wanted to apply for Chinese nationality, they would need to renounce their Australian nationality in order for them to do that. That was one of the main reasons why our kids were born in Hong Kong - it's the easiest way for them to be dual citizens, something that may be of benefit to them in the future. It gives them more options...
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However, as I understand it, the States is different...you are not allowed "dual citizenship" and definitely not with China. So, whether they are born in the States or here, or order to have Chinese citizenship (nationality) they wouldn't be able to keep their US citizenship. And for us, having our kids have US citizenship and passports at this point makes more sense than having Chinese citizenship and HK passports because if that was the case, we'd have to get visas for them to travel to the States even to see my family and when they get older if they choose to study in the States then that would present problems too.
 
nicolejoy said:
evgreen - if you have a HK permanent ID with three stars (right of abode), then you have Chinese nationality. It's not exactly the same as being a "Chinese Citizen", but the HK equivalent.
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Pretty sure our kids would have "right of abode", right? Why wouldn't they? They are equally Chinese by descent as they are "American" by descent, right? That makes sense...but I don't know.
 
China will not allow dual citizenship - but in order to 'get it' you would have to apply for China first then your 'other' citizenship. if you are born in HK then you should be eligible for the HKSAR even with another citizenship - but if you are not born in HK then you have to renounce whatever passport you hold because the HK Gov will not allow dual citizenship because China does not allow it. my kids have both because i applied for HKSAR first and then as a Canadian I applied for the canadian passport for them too - no problem...then i got the 'return home permit' for them with no difficulty.

having 3 stars only means that you have the rights to remain 'permanently' in HK but it does not mean you are a citizen. apparently the letter codes next to the 3 stars give you away - in the sense that it indicates that you were not born in HK but have spent the required time in HK to become a permanent resident. i am literally the only person in my whole family (including extended) that does not have a return home permit (even though many others were also not born in HK) because they decided to enforce the rules more stringently when i finally got my act together to apply....sucks being me - i have to get a visa to visit china every time!
 
lesliefu said:
having 3 stars only means that you have the rights to remain 'permanently' in HK but it does not mean you are a citizen. apparently the letter codes next to the 3 stars give you away - in the sense that it indicates that you were not born in HK but have spent the required time in HK to become a permanent resident. i am literally the only person in my whole family (including extended) that does not have a return home permit (even though many others were also not born in HK) because they decided to enforce the rules more stringently when i finally got my act together to apply....sucks being me - i have to get a visa to visit china every time!
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Actually, the 3 stars DOES mean "right of abode". If an expat gets a permanent ID card, or if a Chinese national (such as my husband) revokes his nationality, they do not have any stars. They are allowed to live in Hong Kong and work etc, but it's not "right of abode" - they have extra requirements, for example if they are out of HK for more than 3 years, they can have their permanent ID status revoked. Also they are not allowed to have a HKSAR passport or the return home permit.
 
thanka2 said:
Pretty sure our kids would have "right of abode", right? Why wouldn't they? They are equally Chinese by descent as they are "American" by descent, right? That makes sense...but I don't know.
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I don't think so, if they are not "Chinese National" they can get the above mentioned permanent ID card but with restrictions. I don't think that immigration classifies it as "right of abode".
 
My daughter has a Hk passport (born here), and American passport (by birth right), and we got her the China Entry card as well....
 
Obiwan said:
My daughter has a Hk passport (born here), and American passport (by birth right), and we got her the China Entry card as well....
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May I ask what yours and your husband's residency/citizenship status is? How did you go about applying for the Hong Kong passport? Did you register your birth with the US Consulate here?
 
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