Covid & Losing ROA Status - 36 Month Entry Exemptions?

[waiming]

The rule for permanent residents who are not Chinese citizens is they lose right of abode if they cease to be "ordinarily resident" in HK AND don't set foot in HK for 36 months.

So it's POSSIBLE to be absent for over 36 months and not lose light of abode, IF you were still "ordinarily resident" for some of that time. THAT is the question that would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

An example would be if you left HK in 2020 for a short visit, FULLY INTENDING TO RETURN SOON, but then got stranded overseas due to Covid. Then after 6 months you decided to abandon your life in HK and build a new life elsewhere — your 36 month "timer" would start at that moment. If you returned to visit HK 33 months later (so 39 months' absence in total), you still in theory would NOT have lost right of abode.

Of course you might struggle to prove exactly when your intent changed, so it's better not to rely on this.

[waiming]

(Also there's a special exception for non-Chinese citizens who at the time of handover ONLY had right of abode in Hong Kong, and in some cases their children — the 36 month "timer" doesn't start for them until they obtain right of abode in some other place)

[Morrison]

(Also there's a special exception for non-Chinese citizens who at the time of handover ONLY had right of abode in Hong Kong, and in some cases their children — the 36 month "timer" doesn't start for them until they obtain right of abode in some other place)

How do you know these things?

[Beanieskis]

The rule for permanent residents who are not Chinese citizens is they lose right of abode if they cease to be "ordinarily resident" in HK AND don't set foot in HK for 36 months.

So it's POSSIBLE to be absent for over 36 months and not lose light of abode, IF you were still "ordinarily resident" for some of that time. THAT is the question that would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

An example would be if you left HK in 2020 for a short visit, FULLY INTENDING TO RETURN SOON, but then got stranded overseas due to Covid. Then after 6 months you decided to abandon your life in HK and build a new life elsewhere — your 36 month "timer" would start at that moment. If you returned to visit HK 33 months later (so 39 months' absence in total), you still in theory would NOT have lost right of abode.

Of course you might struggle to prove exactly when your intent changed, so it's better not to rely on this.

This is exactly correct, and I've seen it confirmed in writing by Immigration (to the British Chamber of Commerce in HK).

[waiming]

How do you know these things?

Good question: it's all in Schedule 1 of the Immigration Ordinance, section 7 ("Loss of the status as a permanent resident").

https://www.hklii.hk/eng/hk/legis/ord/115/sch1.html

[bdw]

No my friends are in similar situation as me as they are also foreigners but have somehow gained their 3*** through their parents who are also Hong Kongers. Possibly because of all the complications during and after the handover.
2 Immigration Officers also questioned me as to why I didn't return to HK during the 36 months, hence the interview.
They never asked me about why I didn't replace my HKID card sooner.

Sounds like you might be confusing PR with this 3 star thingy. I am a HKPR, but never have had 3 stars on my HKID and will never get this under any circumstances (I am Australian with no family in HK and no links to HK at all except the fact I worked there for > 7 years). So in my case I need to visit once every 36 months to keep the PR.

It's possible due to COVID immigraiton might be a bit lenient in bending this rule, you are the first person I've read about with some evidence of this, but then you mentioned about the 3 stars which to me is Chinese nationals, these people don't need to visit every 36 months to keep PR and never did before or after COVID. So the quesition is more about those PR without the 3 star, are they able to keep PR even after not visiting for 36 months? Do you have the 3 star or not?

[BritishRose]

Sounds like you might be confusing PR with this 3 star thingy. I am a HKPR, but never have had 3 stars on my HKID and will never get this under any circumstances (I am Australian with no family in HK and no links to HK at all except the fact I worked there for > 7 years). So in my case I need to visit once every 36 months to keep the PR.

It's possible due to COVID immigraiton might be a bit lenient in bending this rule, you are the first person I've read about with some evidence of this, but then you mentioned about the 3 stars which to me is Chinese nationals, these people don't need to visit every 36 months to keep PR and never did before or after COVID. So the quesition is more about those PR without the 3 star, are they able to keep PR even after not visiting for 36 months? Do you have the 3 star or not?

I got PR status through my mum who's a Hong Konger and I was born overseas before the handover, but I don't have 3*** on my HKID.
It just says Permanent Identity Card and the letters AO - A meaning I have ROA and O meaning to note the fact that I wasn't born in HK.
It's possible that I don't have 3*** due to my mum not being able to go to HK physically at the time to complete the paperwork before the handover deadline as my parents were too busy running a business.

There is a thread about ROA for people who were born overseas which explains things a little bit more:
https://geoexpat.com/forum/54/thread365760.html

About the 3 year rule, my friends who have 3*** on their HKID were also asked about why didn't they return for 36 months, so I'm not sure if things have changed?

[BritishRose]

If they didn't have the replacement exercise for the next gen HKID, I bet many of those folks can still hold onto their Permanent Identity Cards for another 10 years or so despite no longer having the right of abode.

Many of these folks probably won't even know that they've been downgraded.

It's certainly the case for those who still haven't returned to HK to sort their PR out and replace HKID.
My friend had to reverify his PR in May this year because like many foreigners, he wasn't able to return during COVID-19, but just today his application got approved.