expired HK PIC

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    18

    expired HK PIC

    hello

    just a quick question...

    resident in UK... i am going to return to Hong Kong next month for a visit... only for a week

    i have an old-style ***PIC issued in 1994...

    when i arrive back, i think i will join the foreign visitors' line at the airport immigration desks, but i am pretty sure when the IO asks to see my PIC he will tell me i have to renew it...

    but do i absolutely must renew it within 30 days of returning, as stated on the smart id website? also, will i get into trouble when i subsequently leave, if the airport IO sees that i still have the old PIC?

    as i am only back for a week's visit, i don't have time to stay to collect it afterwards.... and i don't have anyone living there that i can ask to collect it for me


  2. #2

    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    779

    You could just use your UK passport to enter Hong Kong. My parents are Canadian and born in HK, so they had HKID cards that were expired, for years they just used passports to enter, until they got their ID cards a few years back.

    They may not necessarily ask you for your ID card. But if they do, I guess you'd have to renew. So you have no friends or relatives at all that could help?


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    18

    thanks Hairball for the reply

    my passport is a BNO passport, which is stamped with an endorsement that refers to my ***PIC ("Holder has HK PIC xxxxxxxx blah blah blah").. so i think they might ask to see it.

    or can i gain entry on a tourist visa-free stamp with the BNO passport alone?

    i hope they won't necessarily ask for the PIC like you say... i won't offer to show it to them unless they ask to see it ... or if they do ask, should i pretend i don't have it with me?

    i am just a bit concerned about getting into trouble if it should constitute a legal offense if don't renew it.

    i do have relatives in hong kong but we are not close (chinese families ) so that's out of the question. I don't have close friends there anymore either that i can ask. It seems a bit stupid that the ImmD can't post a new card out to you overseas.


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    18

    hmmm... i am just looking at this page:

    # Failure to apply for a new identity card within the specified call-up periods without reasonable excuse is an offence. Offenders may be prosecuted and are liable to a fine of $5,000.

    # For holders of old identity cards who were absent from Hong Kong during the specified call-up periods and have not replaced their identity cards under the Hong Kong Smart Identity Card Replacement Exercise, they should apply at any of the Registration of Persons Offices within 30 days of their return to Hong Kong.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    779

    You can't get a tourist stamp in a BNO as you are a HK Permanent Resident, but I believe the BNO itself sufficient to enter HK on its own right. (you can check the HK immigration site)

    You just have to have "proof of identity" if you are supposed to have a HKID card, and I guess the BNO passport could serve that purpose:
    http://www.hklii.org/hk/legis/en/ord/115/s17c.html

    But I think it's possible you might be forced to get one...


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    18

    thanks...

    i'll just fill in a landing card and present it with my BNO at the visitors' immigration desk

    i suppose i'll have to see how it goes.. i'll let the forum know how i get on


  7. #7

    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    18

    An update on what actually happened...

    on arrival at HKIA, I joined the visitors line and presented my BNO passport & landing card to the IO.

    He casually took the landing card and, naturally assuming I was a tourist, told me to keep the departure copy for filling in when I leave. Then the details that I had filled in obviously caught his eye, and he looked surprised. He then checked my passport and said (in Cantonese), "You have BNO, you don't need to fill in a landing card". He then asked if I have a PIC. I said yes but it is an old invalid one because I haven't replaced it due to being resident overseas. He said fine and didn't ask to see it. He handed me back the passport (no stamp), and also rejected the landing card, and waved me through.

    On departure, I presented only my passport at the visitors line. I didn't fill in a departure card. The IO checked it, then gave me a funny look but didn't say anything, nor did he ask for PIC. He then handed me back my passport (no stamp) and waved me through.

    yay looks like Hairball was right about the BNO being sufficient in its own right

    Last edited by celloboy; 17-03-2009 at 01:46 AM.