Like Tree13Likes

Hong Kong Identity Card - RO status only - no stars

Closed Thread
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2
  1. #11

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Sarcasm - because beating the crap out of people is illegal
    Posts
    14,622

    Good. It's a Smart ID card. No need to change it... well not until the next replacement exercise.


  2. #12

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Sarcasm - because beating the crap out of people is illegal
    Posts
    14,622

    BTW, it might be an idea to put on any cover letters/emails that you have the right to work in Hong Kong and do not require visa sponsorship. Some companies can't be bothered with the paperwork and will reject candidates just because they need an employment visa.


  3. #13

    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    11,711
    Quote Originally Posted by kbc28:
    I am not sure if I had a juvenile HKid card actually, being brutally honest...

    I only remember having to go all the way to HK again to get this card I have now (long, long time ago). OK but it is good to know that I do not need a work visa to work in HK.
    so we can presume that you have no stars (right to land) as you applied while an adult ( same as my sister inquiry during 2010) and my cousin is the same, never had a juvenile hkid card and got one whilst in his 30s

    i can also state me and my brothers ( had juvenile hkid card prior to 1997) but have left hk more than 36 months, we still have right to abode 3 stars on our hkid cards

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Posts
    30
    Quote Originally Posted by imparanoic:
    so we can presume that you have no stars (right to land) as you applied while an adult ( same as my sister inquiry during 2010) and my cousin is the same, never had a juvenile hkid card and got one whilst in his 30s

    i can also state me and my brothers ( had juvenile hkid card prior to 1997) but have left hk more than 36 months, we still have right to abode 3 stars on our hkid cards
    Yep I think that is what happened. I also spent a good year and a half trying to get the China re-entry permit and have failed miserably. I do wish I came back prior to 1997 to sort all this out.
    imparanoic and BritishRose like this.

  5. #15

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Posts
    30
    Quote Originally Posted by Claire ex-ax:
    BTW, it might be an idea to put on any cover letters/emails that you have the right to work in Hong Kong and do not require visa sponsorship. Some companies can't be bothered with the paperwork and will reject candidates just because they need an employment visa.
    I submitted my resume with the comments of "Not requiring work visa" too!

  6. #16

    R means Right to Land. O means born overseas.

    You still need to present your overseas passport with your RTL ID card when entering and leaving HK.

    To clarify your actual status to employers, you can apply to Immigration to have an endorsement like "The holder of this travel document has the right to land in Hong Kong" on your passport. If the employers still have doubts, they can contact Immigration to know the real answer whether you can be legally employed without work visa.

    Quote Originally Posted by kbc28:
    Hi,

    I'm getting mixed information, I am planning to go to HK to work. I am a UK passport holder. I only have a Hong Kong Identity card - no stars and it is prefixed with "RO" only.

    The recruitment agencies are telling me I require a work visa to work in HK as I do NOT have the Permanant Identity Card - is this correct?

    KB
    BritishRose likes this.

  7. #17

    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Location
    英國 - UK
    Posts
    101
    Quote Originally Posted by kbc28:
    Hi,

    I'm getting mixed information, I am planning to go to HK to work. I am a UK passport holder. I only have a Hong Kong Identity card - no stars and it is prefixed with "RO" only.

    The recruitment agencies are telling me I require a work visa to work in HK as I do NOT have the Permanant Identity Card - is this correct?

    KB
    Incorrect, although you don't have PR, you still have the right to work without any restrictions.
    My sister is the same as she also has RTL Smart ID Card.

    Quote Originally Posted by Claire ex-ax:
    Hong Kong people don't tend to know about RTL, as they are Chinese citizens and can never lose ROA. Expats know about it because we are not Chinese citizens and can lose ROA if we stay out of Hong Kong for more than 36 months; our ROA would be "downgraded" to RTL in that instance.

    A key to the symbols on cards:

    The Smart Identity Card | Immigration Department
    This is true because when I applied for jobs a few months ago, I explained to employers and recruitment agencies what Right to Land was because in my case, I feared that I lost my PR because I didn't go back to HK during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  8. #18

    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Sha TIn
    Posts
    321
    Quote Originally Posted by BritishRose:
    Incorrect, although you don't have PR, you still have the right to work without any restrictions.
    My sister is the same as she also has RTL Smart ID Card.



    This is true because when I applied for jobs a few months ago, I explained to employers and recruitment agencies what Right to Land was because in my case, I feared that I lost my PR because I didn't go back to HK during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Be glad that you were able to keep your right of abode. I have right to land and been living on this status for 5 years and nobody seems to know such a status exists.

    Took me a year before I could open a bank account and that's only after I incorporated a business here to justify the need for one. A lot of the banking institutions have no idea that such a status exists and that anyone with the right to land can work and live here without any restrictions. Getting my first credit card took 3 years and just about every bank would reject my application at first saying that I didn't have a proper visa or stable income.

    I would imagine getting a job to be just as difficult because you'll have to educate the employer what this status entails and also refer to to the immigration department for clarification.
    BritishRose likes this.