DernierVirage

I haven't managed to find any confirmation of the following issue and I hope that someone here has had practical experience of what I am asking. Here is the question:

I always believed that a PRC citizen needed a visa to enter HK, but I have just come acress this on the HKID website:

" Holders of People’s Republic of China (PRC) passports who are in transit through Hong Kong to and from another country or territory may be granted a stay of seven days on each landing without the prior need to obtain an entry permit provided that normal immigration requirements are met, including possession of valid entry facilities for the destination and confirmed onward booking for the overseas journey. "

I can't figure out what is meant here by "...to and from another country..." - the fact that they say "and" seems to indicate, at least to me, that the PRC person must arrive from and depart to a country other than the PRC, but at the same time that seems a bit strange. I did a quick Internet search and there seems to be a bit of confusion surrounding this provision, hence my post here.

The travel plan I am looking at for a PRC passport holder (who has permission to enter the UK) would be Beijing - Hong Kong, 3 or 4 nights in HK, then Hong Kong - London.

Can anyone confirm if this would qualify for a visa-less stay in HK?

Thanks in advance.

intuition

Yes, no visa required.
Have done it on multiple occasions and PRC passport holders can get a 7 day visitor stamp, allowing them time for the transfer.
You need of course show all onward bookings and be able to prove sufficient cash for stay and agree not to birth any children during the stay.


The "to and from" only means you can return the same way, ie from another country, via HKG to PRC.

DernierVirage

This is exactly what I was looking for...thanks so much for your helpful reply!

May I just ask one related question, since you have done this. We will be checking in at BJS on a CX or KA flight. I hope that the check in staff won't make any trouble, have you ever had any questions or other difficulties at check-in?

BTW, the PRC passport holder is my wife so there is no risk of her giving birth when we are there

intuition

In general, I have found staff knowledgeble. And since CX/KA only flies to HKG from PRC, they are used to this situation.
Haven't done such a trip from BJS, but from Guangdong airports. Even taken the train to HKG and haven't had any troubles.

Since the PRC citizens travelling with me aren't great with researching (or adhearing to ) regulations, I too was pretty nervous on the first HKG transfer. But all went smoothly.

DernierVirage

That is good to know, thanks. Like you say, CX and KA are no doubt used to this situation since they only go to HKG and there is so much transit traffic out of the PRC. And since we will return with CX from LHR (or maybe Manchester in fact), I guess that the outstations will also have the same level of knowledge.

You've been very helpful, thanks a lot !

intuition

Happy to be able to help!
As for the return, even less fuss. We have flown AY to HKG without having onward flight tickets (with the intent to exit HKG on bus or train) and no issue with that either.

DernierVirage

Very reassuring regarding the return...thanks !

nacho

I think Hong Kong government lets most people into HK, except you are from places like Nepal, Laos etc. where they require you to have a visa. Mainlanders like to use the 7 days loophole to get to Hong Kong, a lot of them buy an expensive full flex ticket and get into Hong Kong and then get a refund as soon as they got in.

DernierVirage

For some countries, you even need a visa if you are in transit and stay air-side. I used to have a colleague from Bangladesh whose son was denied boarding in Dhaka for a flight to start his studies in the US, because he was connecting in Hong Kong.....what a mess!

I never knew abou the 7 day rule, mainly because my wife has never done anything the than return trips to HK, where it doesn't apply. But it is great news for our next trip, that way she doesn't need to go back to her home town to renew her HK visa.

intuition

I don't know about that.

You make in sound like they have an open door policy, which simply is not true. For instance, I can easily count 60 countries that needs a visa for any visit to HKG.

For Guangdong people, obtaining a HKG visa is really easy, no need to fake it with a full flex onwards ticket. And for some (like Shenzhen people IIRC) a id-card is all that is needed to pass the border. For other mainland Chinese it is a tad more difficult to obtain a visitor visa to HKG, as many of them has to apply at Beijing office in person.

nacho

True I should have made it more clear that Hong Kong's open door policy is mostly for citizens from the developed world. My friends who are Japan PRs but holding Lao's passports need a visa to visit Hong Kong. To be honest, the immigration officers are quite friendly towards Western tourists (not me as I local). Try CBP in the US/ the immigration in the UK or even Australia as a foreign citizen and you know what I mean

Most Chinese don't live in Guangdong province, and that's why they love to bypass the 7 days rules by buying a full flex ticket when they want to visit Hong Kong in short notice. Also it's not even that difficult to get a permit to visit Hong Kong, someone people from certain cities can apply a visa from their local police authority, and the rest will have to join a tour, again, get a visa from local police authorities.

Shenzhen residents can get a multiple entries visa to Hong Kong - they need to swipe their entry permit to Hong Kong. I haven't read anything about that they can just cross the border with their ID card.

DernierVirage

I was actually amazed about the 7 day non-visa stay in HK for PRC passport holders who are transiting to and from a 3rd country, so much so that I came here to double check if it was really true !

intuition

While GuangDong'ers are "only" 8% of the PRC population they are pretty prone to travel. There is a reason there are some 13 daily trains GuangZhou East-Hung Hom, and KA can fly an A330 twice a day on a 25 minute route! But sure, wealthy people from other regions who don't want to wait or pay for a visa surely use the onward ticket trick.


The source of 'id-card-is-sufficient' if the same as mentioned in post #4, ie it might very well be a not thoroughly researched opinion of said local...

nacho

You haven't counted the bus service between HK and China, plus MTR to the border too.

Oh yes Chinese are wealthy, I visit the Chinese FT regularly and I have Chinese friends who shop like hell in the US. I took her to an outlet village twice - it's her first time and within 2 hours she spent USD 780 and she is only a professor from a university.

I was in Xuzhou visiting some friends and outside the CP I have seen several Marasaratis, Porsches and Ferraris...... it's not a big city and I don't think I have seen that many expensive car gathered in one place.

I think all Chinese need a permit to enter Hong Kong and I do believe that it's the one that is recognised by HK government. That's the documentation to show that they are authorized to travel to Hong Kong.

DernierVirage

Xuzhou......I used to go there 5 or 6 times a year when we had a joint venture at Gangshang, near to Pizhou.