The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Document of Identity for Visa Purposes () is a

biometric Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify in ...

travel document A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international entity pursuant to international agreements to enable individuals to clear border control measures. Travel documents usually assure other governments that the beare ...

issued by the

Hong Kong Immigration Department The Immigration Department of the Government of Hong Kong is responsible for immigration control of Hong Kong. After the People's Republic of China assumed sovereignty of the territory in July 1997, Hong Kong's immigration system remained la ...

residents of Hong Kong The Hong Kong Basic Law classifies residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region () as either permanent residents or non-permanent residents. Hong Kong residents have rights under the Basic Law including freedom of speech, freedom of ...

who are unable to obtain a national passport. It is usually valid for seven years. The majority are issued to citizens of the People's Republic of China who have migrated to Hong Kong on a

One-way Permit A People's Republic of China Permit for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao, or One-way Permit, is a document issued by the People's Republic of China allowing residents of mainland China to leave the mainland permanently to settle in Hong Kong or ...

, have lost their mainland

hukou ''Hukou'' () is a system of household registration used in mainland China. The system itself is more properly called "''huji''" (), and has origins in ancient China; ''hukou'' is the registration of an individual in the system (''kou'' li ...

thus are unable to obtain a PRC passport, but have not resided in Hong Kong for the 7 years required to be eligible for a

HKSAR passport The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport is a passport issued only to permanent residents of Hong Kong who also hold Chinese citizenship. Note that: The passport is referred to both as the HKSAR Passport and the Hong Kong Speci ...

. In 2009–2010, 54,554 Documents of Identity for Visa Purposes were issued.

Eligibility

The Document of Identity can be issued to the following categories of individuals who are connected with Hong Kong and who are unable to obtain a national passport or travel document from any other country: *Those on a limit of stay in Hong Kong *Those on unconditional stay (i.e. possess the right to land) who do not have the

right of abode The right of abode is an individual's freedom from immigration control in a particular country. A person who has the right of abode in a country does not need permission from the government to enter the country and can live and work there withou ...

in Hong Kong *Those who have the right of abode in Hong Kong and hold a permanent

identity card An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...

, but are not of Chinese nationality or ineligible for Chinese nationality

Physical appearance

Identification page

The identification page appears on a

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...

insert between the front cover and the first page. Using laser engraving technology, the holder's photograph is printed in black and white, with the holder's Hong Kong Identity Card number printed vertically on the right-hand side of the portrait photograph. The passport is also machine readable, designed for immigration control points equipped with passport scanners. Details which are printed include: * Travel document type: PH * Code of Issuing State: CHN * Document number * Surname and Given Names: in

Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets of the contemporary written Chinese. The traditional characters had taken shapes since the clerical change and mostly remained in the same structure they took at ...

and English * Nationality: * Sex: denoted as "M" (male) or "F" (female) * Place of birth: if born in China, the name of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy� ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

/ Special Administrative Region (i.e. Hong Kong or

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

); if born in other countries, the name of the country of birth * Dates of birth, issuance and expiry: displayed in the format DD-MMM-YY * Authority (of issue): "IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT, HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION" (in Chinese and English)

Use

As an international

, the Hong Kong Document of Identity may be used for entry into and exit from Hong Kong. However, since it is not a formal ''

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

'', there are certain restrictions. Few foreign countries and dependent territories which offer visa-free access to Hong Kong SAR passport holders confer the same privilege to holders of the Hong Kong SAR Document of Identity. Since some holders of the Hong Kong SAR Document of Identity are not Chinese citizens (though the majority are new immigrants from other parts of China to Hong Kong and have been unable to obtain an ordinary

Chinese passport The People's Republic of China Passport (), commonly referred to as the Chinese passport, is a passport issued to citizens of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the purpose of international travel, and entitles its bearer to the protec ...

), they are not entitled to the consular protection offered by the People's Republic of China government while overseas. However, Chinese foreign missions are able to assist should a Document of Identity become lost or stolen whilst abroad.

External links

Immigration Department: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Document of Identity for Visa PurposesJustice Centre Hong Kong: New System for Protection Claims in Hong Kong

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong Kong Document Of Identity For Visa Purposes Foreign relations of Hong Kong Passports Identity documents Refugees in Asia Statelessness

Eligibility

Physical appearance

Identification page

Use

See also

External links

References