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Cover letter: some questions

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  1. #11

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
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    58

    Ok, thanks. Found out what I am haha...


  2. #12

    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    23,205
    Quote Originally Posted by Millou:
    The person at immigration said I could live and work freely in HK, the only thing I couldn't do was to vote and be voted. He also told me it's better to come back every 3 years.

    This is the ID card I have, but without the 3stars.
    GovHK: The Smart Identity Card

    I looked up the difference between ROA and RTL, it looks simular to me. The only difference I see, is when one has the RTL, he or she can be deported.
    The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Immigration Department
    Without the 3 stars you are (almost certainly) not a Chinese Citizen. Moreover, if you can't vote then you must have Right to Land, rather than Right of Abode. However, if you have Right to Land already then the 3 year thing is irrelevant - that's the criteria for being downgraded from Right of Abode to Right to Land, which has, apparently, already happened to you.

    The things that ROA gives you above RTL are:
    1) You can vote, and you can stand for some, but not all, elected offices
    2) You cannot be deported
    3) Your children if born in HK automatically get ROA as well.

    The *** (which approximates roughly to Chinese Citizenship) would have enabled you to get the paperwork to enter China without a passport or visa, to stand for the higher elected offices or be appointed to certain senior positions (although the very highest require that you hold no other citizenship), and to get a HK Passport.
    shri likes this.

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    58
    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    Without the 3 stars you are (almost certainly) not a Chinese Citizen. Moreover, if you can't vote then you must have Right to Land, rather than Right of Abode. However, if you have Right to Land already then the 3 year thing is irrelevant - that's the criteria for being downgraded from Right of Abode to Right to Land, which has, apparently, already happened to you.

    The things that ROA gives you above RTL are:
    1) You can vote, and you can stand for some, but not all, elected offices
    2) You cannot be deported
    3) Your children if born in HK automatically get ROA as well.

    The *** (which approximates roughly to Chinese Citizenship) would have enabled you to get the paperwork to enter China without a passport or visa, to stand for the higher elected offices or be appointed to certain senior positions (although the very highest require that you hold no other citizenship), and to get a HK Passport.
    Yeah, I just figured that out haha...
    So I won't loose my RTL even if I don't go back every 3 years? The immigration person said my parents and sister, who have ROA, don't have to come back every 3 years, but I do. If not I might loose my ID card?

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    23,205

    They were wrong (or there is some misunderstanding). You can't lose RTL. In fact it is your relatives with ROA who need to come back every 3 years in order to retain ROA IF (but only if) they are not Chinese Citizens. In almost all cases this means that if they have the *** then they don't need to come back every 3 years, and if they don't then they do.

    But note that some *** IDs given out more than about 10 years ago are now subject to review, and some *** ratings have been withdrawn, as reported by people on this forum.


  5. #15

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    58

    I see. Thanks for clearing things up. They have the *** and they just went back last year. There wasn't a problem then, so I think they're ok =]