Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents (ASSG) Application

[Wendalynn]

Hi All,

I'm currently living in Hong Kong and looking to transfer my visa to an ASSG visa but don't know if I qualify based on the requirement that my parent needs to be of Chinese Nationality at my time of birth.

My parents are both born in China, lived in Hong Kong for many years and then immigrated to Canada in the 70's. My parents were Canadian Citizens at the time of my birth.

I know I am not a Chinese citizen according to article 5: "one of whose parents is a Chinese national and has settled abroad, and who has acquired foreign nationality at birth shall not have Chinese nationality"

But I would assume my parents are not Chinese nationals according to Article 9: "Any Chinese national who has settled abroad and who has been naturalised as a foreign national or has acquired foreign nationality of his own free will shall automatically lose Chinese nationality."

I've read the other posts here and it seems the sentiment is that it's difficult to get this visa as well????


For reference, this is what I found on the immigration website.

Q29: Both the Certificate for Entitlement to the Right of Abode in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (COE) and the Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents (ASSG)require one of the applicant’s parents to be of Chinese nationality. What is the difference between the two?
The COE scheme requires the applicant to be of Chinese nationality at the time of birth. In general, this means that either of their parents, at the time of the applicant’s birth, has not yet settled overseas and accordingly the applicant remains a Chinese national.

The ASSG is applicable to those who are not eligible under the COE scheme, i.e. persons who are born overseas and not having Chinese nationality at the time of birth.

[Morrison]

Perhaps the difference is thatfor you to "qualify" for Chinese nationality at least one Chinese parent must count as "not settled abroad" when you were born.
whereas for the ASSG it does not matter where the parent was settled then

[lighthse003]

Are or were your parents HK Permanent Residents?

[kma88]

The main confusion for most people comes from the fact that while the Chinese Nationality Law does not recognize dual citizenship, for Hong Kongers it is allowed as specified by a supplementary "Interpretation" of the Nationality Law as pertained to HK.

So in your case, I assume your parents had lived in HK for a continuous period for over 7 years in the past. In this case, they would be considered Hong Kong permanent residents and Chinese national. You can ask your parents if they had ever held a Hong Kong permanent identity card.

[Wendalynn]

Thanks for all the input.

My parents are HK Permanent Residents and hold a permanent residence card.

So i guess i will have to give this application a try and see!