Could I be a HK Permanent resident?

[raymondliu]

My parents were born in China, mum arrived in HK as a baby and stayed till way into adulthood, and was a HK PR.
Both parents moved to New Zealand, where I was born, and am now an adult.

Considering submitting by ROP145, however given I have to be in HK at the time of application, I was hoping of to get some opinions on what my chances are of being a HK PR.

What does the application process of the ROP145 involve? If there is an interview, will it help if I can speak cantonese?

Thanks

[cybapunked]

My parents were born in China, mum arrived in HK as a baby and stayed till way into adulthood, and was a HK PR.
Both parents moved to New Zealand, where I was born, and am now an adult.

Considering submitting by ROP145, however given I have to be in HK at the time of application, I was hoping of to get some opinions on what my chances are of being a HK PR.

What does the application process of the ROP145 involve? If there is an interview, will it help if I can speak cantonese?

Thanks

The application process will take between 6-8 weeks normally, you will be asked to interview if you are deemed eligable. Basically all that is required is to let them see your documents, i.e passports, birth certifcates, marriage certificate etc, actual interview lasts about 10 mins.

Speaking Cantonese is not necessary, although the Immigration officer will appreciate it. We spoke English with no issues.

Hairball's website should have all the details you need! Good Luck
http://www.geocities.com/icehairball/

[pin]

The application process will take between 6-8 weeks normally, you will be asked to interview if you are deemed eligable. Basically all that is required is to let them see your documents, i.e passports, birth certifcates, marriage certificate etc, actual interview lasts about 10 mins.

Speaking Cantonese is not necessary, although the Immigration officer will appreciate it. We spoke English with no issues.

Hairball's website should have all the details you need! Good Luck
http://www.geocities.com/icehairball/

Very good blog btw. Nothing that I could use, but did enjoy reading it.

BTW you are going to have to move it soon though, as geocities is shutting down.

[raymondliu]

Thanks for that, however both Icehairball's parents were born in HK, while my mother is a chinese HK permanent resident who migrated to HK from China. Does this make a difference?

[Hairball]

Yeah I plan to move it elsewhere...and it's not really a "blog"

As for Raymond, you said your parents are both from mainland China, did they ever naturalize as HK British subjects, and can have BDTC passports? What travel document did they use to go to New Zealand? If they had naturalized and were a BDTC, then you would have ROA that way.

If that is not the case, then they must not have been settled (as not holding permanent residence) in New Zealand for you to get ROA. I don't know what exactly that is called in New Zealand, so check for yourself.

English is an official language of Hong Kong, so nothing to worry, for this process it's not even really an interview. It's just an arrangement to verify some documents.

[titus666]

Yeah I plan to move it elsewhere...and it's not really a "blog"

As for Raymond, you said your parents are both from mainland China, did they ever naturalize as HK British subjects, and can have BDTC passports? What travel document did they use to go to New Zealand? If they had naturalized and were a BDTC, then you would have ROA that way.

If that is not the case, then they must not have been settled (as not holding permanent residence) in New Zealand for you to get ROA. I don't know what exactly that is called in New Zealand, so check for yourself.

English is an official language of Hong Kong, so nothing to worry, for this process it's not even really an interview. It's just an arrangement to verify some documents.

If the parents were not BDTC, and not settled in NZ, it'll also depend on whether (at least one of the) parents actually and formally obtained ROA in HK. My dad is in the same boat, and had to obtain ROA formally before immigating overseas (to Australia in our case) otherwise he would have completely lost any rights in HK. As it is at the moment, he's had to put in a ROP145 to verify his status as he received a HK ID card (with R on it stating RTL) but immd said that wasn't enough to prove his status on the spot..

[Hairball]

Good point, I forgot to point that out.

But if you are Chinese, you just have to prove that you were living in Hong Kong legally for 7 years, and the ROA is essentially automatic (although you need to submit an application). Only non-Chinese have to declare and show HK as the place of permanent residence and formally apply.

Did your dad live 7 years in HK? If he is, and he is a Chinese citizen, he should have ROA, although the application process may be a pain.

[titus666]

Good point, I forgot to point that out.

But if you are Chinese, you just have to prove that you were living in Hong Kong legally for 7 years, and the ROA is essentially automatic (although you need to submit an application). Only non-Chinese have to declare and show HK as the place of permanent residence and formally apply.

Did your dad live 7 years in HK? If he is, and he is a Chinese citizen, he should have ROA, although the application process may be a pain.

Heh my dad's case is much more complicated. He moved from China to HK in the 40s and had lived there still the 80s. He never formally got ROA until he left/was leaving for Australia (he travelled with a CI) and he never obtained BDTC either, so basically he was stateless. At 1997, he already had Australian citizenship and settled in Australia so did not "automatically" obtain ROA. He believes he got ROA (via 7 years rule) in the 80s and his HK ID card (old style) had an R on it, but also an expiry date. He's put in a ROP145 when he was here in April so we'll see how it goes.. He should in theory have RTL now..