Sorry, not true at all!
Your ID card is forever, and does not expire. If it expired, then there would be an expiry date. Your thinking is that a HKID card entitles you the right to stay in HK, that is not true. It is simply an identity document.
Immigration checks your identity via your HKID card and cross references there system to see if you have a current condition of stay, then allows you into HK. If not, then you use your passport and enter as a tourist.
Hospitals do not ask for your passport or visa label. It is simply a visa label, not both a visa and a label, they are in fact the same and one thing. Hospitals use your HKID card to register you and I think they can check online if you are eligible for the resident rate. However, I personally don't think they even check and that a HKID card can be a ticket to cheap medical care, even if your HK residency ends. Of course there are no guarantees.
I think you can use your HKID at the public library forever, regardless of visa status. It remains your library card.
Banks will need a permanent resident HKID card OR they will require your passport.
Originally Posted by lighthse003:
True but non permanent HKID cards can become expired when the condition of stay changes. Government services such as public hospitals and clinics can ask to see your valid visa or label in addition to your HKID cards to check if you are an eligible person for low cost fees. Banks, depending on their policies, may also ask to see your valid visa or label.
Your ID card number will be the same forever, but if the codes indicating your condition of stay need to be changed, you are required to apply for a new card free of charge.
HK permanent ID card holders who have lost the ROA but have the RTL should apply for a new ID card.