HKSAR Passport? Visa? Dual Nationality? Home Return Permit?

[bluesky99]

Hi. I hold a foreign passport (same nationality since I was born) and live abroad. However, I was born in HK, am ethnically Chinese, and hold a HKID with ***AZ printed on the card. I have some questions which I could not find the answers to, would be very grateful if the experts on this site could chime in; would be very helpful to hear others' experiences as well. Thank you everyone!

(1) I am interested in applying for a Home Return Permit to visit Mainland China. Some of my friends have obtained this with just a HKID. However when I tried to apply for it during my last trip to HK, I was told that the rules have changed and the Home Return Permit would only be granted to HKSAR passport holders. Is this consistent with what you have experienced?

(2) Regardless, I am thinking about applying for the HKSAR passport. I was wondering if this is a done deal for HKID holders with ***AZ printed on their cards? If not, under what circumstances would such individuals be denied a HKSAR passport?

(3) I understand that HK recognizes dual passports (i.e. it just treats the second passport as a travel document). However, I have friends who were asked to renounce their original passport when they tried to apply for a HKSAR passport. Under what criteria would one be allowed to keep both passports and under what criteria would one be allowed to keep both the original and the HKSAR passport?

(4) Last but not least, I am interested to visit Mainland China. If I am ineligible for a Home Return Permit at the moment, does this mean that my only way to enter Mainland China would be to apply for a Visitor's Visa? Would such a Visitor's Visa application be seen as an act of declaring my foreign nationality and thus hurt my chances of successfully applying for a HKSAR passport later on?

[shri]

Dual "nationalities":

Worth reading the explanations on this page.

https://www.gov.hk/en/residents/immi...hinese/law.htm

[chuckster007]

Apply HKSAR passport, you should be fine as you are AZ code holder, right of abode and born in HK.
After you have the HKSAR passport go apply for HRP.

[kma88]

Yes you can apply for the hksar passport and keep your foreign nationality. This is allowed for those who are born a Chinese national. Btw Chinese is also your " original" nationality.

The requirement of hksar passport for HRP has been around for some time, I think after the agencies realised that the hksar passport is the only conclusive proof if one has Chinese nationality.