What are my rights?

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  1. #1

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    Question What are my rights?

    Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice?

    I was born in Hong Kong in 1985, and in December of 1997, moved to South Africa for 2 years, then moved to London, and I am living here currently.

    I have a now invalid Hong Kong Identity Card, which was issued to me in April 1997 (it was an 11 - 17 one, which apparently became invalid last year, even though I turned 18 in 2003). I also have my Hong Kong birth certificate, my parents got married in Hong Kong and lived there for 15 years. I haven't been back to HK at all since we left in December of 1997.

    However, my parents are both of South African nationality and so am I - we all have South African passports and have done since the beginning.

    I was just wondering what my rights were in regards to living in Hong Kong, whether I had a claim to apply for Right of Abode, or whether all the information above is completely irrelevant? Even though I have a South African passport (I was just put onto my mother's as a kid, and then subsequently received my own), I feel as if Hong Kong is my home. So any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you.


  2. #2

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    Did your ID card have an "A" on it for Right of Abode? Or did your parents have Right of Abode at some point when you were a child?

    Assuming you did have ROA and are not a Chinese citizen, then you would have lost it since you haven't been in HK every 36 months since the handover in 1997, you will lose ROA and get "downgraded" to a status called "right to land", which gives you mostly the same rights, except you can get deported for serious offences, and you can't vote. But you can still live, work and study without restriction.


  3. #3

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    Hi Hairball, thanks for replying.

    No, my ID card doesn't have an A on it. It has a bunch of other letters though. I'm not sure what status my parents had when they were living in HK, I plan to ask them, but I think that we had something similar or equivalent to the British 'Indefinite leave to remain' (I think the U on my ID card means that I could stay in HK unconditionally but I don't know whether that still applies).


  4. #4

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    Try reading this a bit, it might help:
    The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Immigration Department


    One thing I am not sure is whether or not you actually had to formally apply for ROA in order to continue to have it at some later date. Considering that you've lived 12 years in HK, that definitely would normally be enough.

    It's hard to find info about the old British laws on who had ROA. But basically you can get ROA through either the British or Chinese rules, depending on which works out for you.


  5. #5

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    Oh wow thanks for that link Hairball.

    So I think I have 'settled' status in HK - I hope that still applies because to have settled status you have to be classed as 'ordinarily resident', and they have to know the reasons for my absence all these years to see whether I can still claim that status. I should, because unconditional should mean unconditional, ie forever, but I'll email them on this website and ask. But thanks for all the info.


  6. #6

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    You can lose unconditional stay by long absences from HK. It's unconditional in the sense that you can live, work and study while you are under that type of stay.

    Does your ID card say "Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card" or something saying you have "right of abode"? (The codes might be confusing to find)


  7. #7

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    No because it wasn't a permanent one. I have the 11-17 one, the youth identity card. The letters on my card are UFZY, which I think mean: unconditional stay, female, born in HK, and date of birth has been verified by the immigration department by virtue of the holder's passport or birth certificate.
    Underneath that it says 'H1'. There is no other code other than my identity number and date of birth.
    On the back it says that I have to renew the card within 30 days of my 18th birthday (to a permanent one), and obviously I didn't do that.

    I have a feeling I have been out of HK too long to be able to claim anything - even RTL.


  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by BiancaSF:
    No because it wasn't a permanent one. I have the 11-17 one, the youth identity card. The letters on my card are UFZY, which I think mean: unconditional stay, female, born in HK, and date of birth has been verified by the immigration department by virtue of the holder's passport or birth certificate.
    Underneath that it says 'H1'. There is no other code other than my identity number and date of birth.
    On the back it says that I have to renew the card within 30 days of my 18th birthday (to a permanent one), and obviously I didn't do that.

    I have a feeling I have been out of HK too long to be able to claim anything - even RTL.
    I'm afraid you might be right on that one. If you have left Hong Kong for more than 12 months on unconditional stay, you lose that status and it can't be restored.

  9. #9

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    But if you are born in Hong Kong and have the birth certificate, you probably have a good case to argue that...

    no guarantees though. from my friends and family who have been through the same thing (although they were hk locals ie. parents and family etc. were hk chinese) some managed to get the right of abode back, some didnt... it may actually depend on "influence" to be cynical about it


  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by UK/HKboy:
    But if you are born in Hong Kong and have the birth certificate, you probably have a good case to argue that...

    no guarantees though. from my friends and family who have been through the same thing (although they were hk locals ie. parents and family etc. were hk chinese) some managed to get the right of abode back, some didnt... it may actually depend on "influence" to be cynical about it
    If she never had ROA before, there's no exception. Once you have ROA, you'll be given the lifelong right of residence in Hong Kong even if you've been away for long periods of time overseas. If a non-chinese national is away for more than 36 months, he/she will lose ROA but will acquire RTL which is pretty much the same thing. All Chinese nationals with ROA will be able to retain it for life as long they don't renounce their Chinese citizenship.
    Last edited by Aritaurus; 20-04-2009 at 02:13 PM.

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