HkCaGu

The HRP is a card. China won't even let you use a HKSAR passport for what it considers "domestic" travel, so it doesn't grant "visa". There is no limit to your length of stay, but let's say if you participate in a protest (like many disgruntled property owners had done), they can remove you at any time. In real practice, HK residents are treated better than rural villagers in terms of being able to remain/stay in cities.

Being a Mainland Chinese citizen alone doesn't give you the right to own property/business anywhere in the country. HK residency is simply a Chinese residency outside the registration/huji/hukou system with a different document (HK passport/ID instead of China passport/ID). There may be cases where you're more favored, and there may be cases where you're not.

A Mainlander upon voluntary acquisition of a foreign nationality automatically loses Chinese nationality. Continuing to use an unexpired Chinese passport is illegal. A HK Chinese national, however, remains Chinese unless he goes to fill out papers in Wan Chai to relinquish Chinese nationality (with proofs that you have some other nationality), and his foreign nationality (and associated rights) is not recognized in Mainland/HK/Macau as long as you remain a Chinese national.

Clipper801

There are a few exceptions depending on the consular agreement between that foreign country and China.

Canada is one of those exceptions. If a Canadian enters China (not HKSAR) on a Canadian passport, that person is entitled to, at least on paper in accordance with the consular agreement between China and Canada, full Canadian consular protection and assistance regardless of the person’s place of birth or national origin. A Canadian who chooses to enter China with a Return Home Permit voluntarily forfeits that right to Canadian consular protection and assistance whilst in China. It’s a personal choice and there is no right or wrong answer. Obviously, entering China with a RHP has far fewer conditions of stay than entering with a foreign passport and China visa.

I have heard hearsay that once you apply for a HKSAR passport, you will not be able to apply for a visa on your foreign passports. I do not have official confirmation to that effect. I do not have a HKSAR passport, so I don't know.

Similarly, anyone with a foreign passport but enters HKSAR with their permanent HKID card forfeits the right to consular protection and assistance of that foreign country whilst in HKSAR.

Clipper801

Holders of HKSAR passports (not mainland China passports) may, in addition to BN(O) passports, hold other foreign passports which in effect, allowing multiple nationalities.

I always consider HKSAR passports to be a subset of the Chinese nationality similar to BN(O) being a special subset of the British nationality.

dtsm

Thank you both [Clipper and HK]

rkkwan

Exactly. Plenty of HKers have bought properties in China one-way or another, and many of them actually live there for good, as properties are still significantly less expensive. Every morning, plenty of schoolkids commute from Shenzhen to their schools in Hong Kong.

garykung

In theory - no restriction. In practice - until the validity of your document expires.

Ultimately yes (through a lengthy process).

If you are from Mainland, then sorry - no. But if you are from Hong Kong or Macau, yes - simply China will not recognize it when you are within Chinese territories and you get no consular protection.

Yes - but it is complicated.

Clipper801

Not always true.

This is a function of the specific consular agreement between the foreign country and China.

CX HK

I think an issue came up with regards to the BN(O) status being recognized in China, but normal British citizenship should be enough.

Clipper801

EXCEPTION: British Citizenship acquired by Chinese Nationals in HK through the “British Nationality Selection Scheme” is not recognised by China. That particular group of British Citizens are excluded from British consular protection and assistance whilst in HKSAR and China. In all other cases, entry using the UK passport is necessary.

CX HK

So is it not possible to enter China using a British passport (British citizen) if your birth place says "Hong Kong"? And when you say "excluded from British consular protection", this implies that the UK agrees that these citizens are actually not citizens (or at least not treated like one) while in China.

A confusing issue all around - just like how it always has been.

garykung

1. It is possible to use BC Passport to enter China, providing you have a visa.

2. If the person is also eligible for a HRP, he or she won't be eligible for consular protection.

Clipper801

The place of birth is irrelevant. It's how your "British Citizen" status was acquired.

British Citizenship acquired by Chinese Nationals in HK through the “British Nationality Selection Scheme” is not recognised by China.

If you did not acquire the British Citizenship through the "British Nationality Selection Scheme" and entered HKSAR or China with your British passport, you should be entitled to full British consular protection and assistance.

The key is whether you're a Chinese national in HK and obtained your British Citizen status through the "British Nationality Selection Scheme". If you fall into this category, notwithstanding that your UK passport nationality is British Citizen and you enter HKSAR and China with the UK passport, you are not entitled to UK consular protection and assistance whilst in HKSAR and China.

All categories of UK passports are valid for travel to China. Whether the China authority will grant a visa for the particular type of UK passport is an entirely different question. It also begs the question of how the Chinese authority would know how one acquired the "British Citizen" status, whether it was through the "British Nationality Selection Scheme" or not unless the Brits have told them, or those passports have special easily idenitifiable prefix or suffix.

Clipper801

This statement is not always true.

In case of British Citizen, only applicable to those Chinese Nationals who acquired British Citizenship in HK through the “British Nationality Selection Scheme”.

For other countries, it depends on the specific consular agreement between the individual country and China.

In all cases except for the special category of British Citizen stated above, the pre-requisite is to enter China with the foreign passport, not HRP.

dannyhk

In practice, these British Citizen passports are indistinguishable from other British Citizen passports. Indeed the Hong Kong Immigration Department publicly admitted this shortly after the 1997 handover when they appealed to holders of such passports not to use them, but publicly admitted they couldn't identify them.

I also know people who acquired their passports through the British Nationality Selection Scheme who have used these passports to travel to China.

HkCaGu

So the practical difference has nothing to do with travel/entry/exit. It only matters if you get into legal situations such as getting arrested. If the Chinese government investigates and finds out you're part of the scheme then you're not entitled to UK consular assistance. Am I right?