Ausriver

So basically, when someone passed the immigration, entered airside restricted area, without actually departing the country, and when he comes back in, he will be considered as second entry? or previous exit revoked?

I ask the question because I want to understand the process and logic behind this and I guess it doesn't matter how stupid this idea was.

So what if someone missed the last flight of the day? at an international airport that doesn't open 24 hours. Going back landside seems the only option?

What actually happens here is that I need to give one of my passport to my colleague for some work to be done in China, and I need that passport to exit Australia. The person collecting it is actually in Shenzhen. It is not easy to use a courier to send it as I actually need my passport most of the time and pick it up in person and return it to me in person will be the best way to do it. And she need to travel from Shenzhen to HKG airport airside to pick it up and at the moment she's only got a single entry permit. We want to work out a best way to do it and that's why I asked this simply question here. We have already booked her an Y ticket to Guangzhou (CAN), worst case would be she actually take the flight and get back to Shenzhen from CAN, however that flight leaves at 8pm and by the time she got back to Shenzhen will be the next day, which we want to avoid. She could also use the ferry service if she can't get back into HK. However, we want to know what to do beforehand so we wouldn't be telling her: try this, if not working, then try that....

889

I don't know specifically about HK's practice, but in other places where I've been stamped out but have to return because the flight was cancelled, etc. they simply write "cancelled" across the entry stamp. Of course HK doesn't use stamps these days, so who knows.

In any event, you are not going to get any first-hand experience here with the scenario you are setting up because nobody here would try anything like that. What we're telling you is why we wouldn't even think of doing it.

That your Mainland friend is apparently entering HK with a ticket out as a ruse to enter HK -- she doesn't really intend to fly out -- is another truly awful idea. (Mainlanders can usually enter HK for seven days if they have an onward air ticket.) I recall seeing news stories a few years ago that Immigration was clamping down on this.

Finally, that this involves passport transfer in the secure section of the airport is topping on the cake. That sort of behaviour is a hallmark of people doing things they shouldn't be doing at airports. Now there may in fact be nothing nefarious about what you're doing, but handing over your passport will certainly raise the highest suspicion. And if detected, you and your friend will have a lot of explaining to do, while your plane is on its way.

Unfortunately, you don't seem amenable to taking good advice. But that you're hornswaggling an innocent Mainlander into what could become a very dicey situation really is inexcusable.

eponymous_coward

FedEx it to your colleague once you reach your destination? It's not like you'd have it at your destination anyway on your original course of action, so why not do this instead of all this shifty stuff?

People get visa stamps using passport services (which means they hand over their passport to someone else) all the time...

Absolutely, 100% a "don't do that at all" kind of thing. Yes, I'm certain this is reasonably innocent in intent. But there's just no reason to risk immigration thinking something sketchy is going on.

seawolf

So not only is colleague exiting HK only to re-enter without taking flight, colleague will also be in possession of 3rd party (Ausriver) passport. Immigration/Customs would really love that it they were to find your passport.

garykung

Second entry.

Immigration authorities have discretion to allow entries without visa based on humanitarian reasons. For example:

Vancouver-bound Cathay jet diverts to Seattle in ‘adverse weather condition’ and suspected lightning strike

Do you know AUS Passport Office allow Concurrent (second) passports, as soon as you can demonstrate the need?

When the person is a Mainland resident using a 2-way permit, I will definitely avoid this from happening. This is even worse than using a single-entry visa.

Steve M

There's no way you're going to get a definitive answer from anyone here, or from Hong Kong Immigration, on such a situation. Were the full facts of the situation known - that someone is trying to "game" the system by buying a refundable ticket and passing through HK exit Immigration with no intention of taking the flight or actually departing Hong Kong - I'm sure that officials would find a way to deliver the appropriate attitude adjustment to all those involved that thought this was a good or proper idea, and in a most unpleasant manner.

So, you're left with the question of the detailed nuances of policy that's applied in the corner cases that you mention (e.g. having no ill intent, but missing the last flight of the day after passing exit Immigration), with the hope of applying them to your situation with the authorities not catching on to what you're really trying to do.

As others have already stated, even if this is the way you normally go about dealing with governments, regulations, and laws, Immigration checkpoints are the very last places you want to be doing such things, especially when in precarious situations such as a one-entry visa where the consequences could be severe and not predictable in advance.

Having said all of that, I'll try to answer your questions as you asked them. You pose several "what if" scenarios, such as missing the last outbound flight of the day from an airport that doesn't operate its airside 24/7.

Actually, Immigration authorities, generally speaking, have wide discretion in almost all matters when at the point of admitting someone into their country or territory, whether the person is with or without a valid visa for such.

There's an implication in your posts that "surely, authorities wouldn't put someone in jail or deport them after exiting on a one-entry visa just because they missed their flight and the airport doesn't operate 24/7?" Well, that's a valid point, and I suspect you're right. In most cases, that probably would not happen. But it certainly could if they figured out what the passenger was really up to.

More importantly, there's another possibility that I don't think you've considered: it's not just an either/or case of canceling the exit from the single-entry visa, or treating the passenger as someone that needs to be detained and deported: What if, instead of undoing the exit, or granting a second entry under the terms of the original visa due to the circumstances, they instead grant temporary landing permission as a transit passenger that's valid for only 1 day? If you put yourself in a situation where you're at the mercy of Immigration's discretionary authority, then more or less anything can happen. At that point, the person would get back into Hong Kong, but would have to depart the very next day or become an overstayer.

garykung

I won't use the term "wide" as they are not as wide as you think.

Case-in-point, a CX 254 had diverted to Moscow in 2011. Only those who has visa-free travel (mostly HKSAR residents) are accommodated while the rest stayed in the airport transit area.

Flight CX254 Statement

OP's colleague does not have a single-entry visa. It is a single-entry 2-way permit.

Basic Law Article 22(4) requires all Mainland residents (regardless where they are actually located) must have proper approval from the Mainland before they can enter Hong Kong. In OP's case, unless her colleague is holding a 2-way permit that allow multiple entries, her colleague would need to return to her residence and apply for approval again.

As a special administrative region, Hong Kong Immigration Department can't intervene Mainland's immigration policy. Thus, the Immigration Department has no authority as a matter of law.

Steve M

... all the more reason to not try something like this. Also, even if FedEx "doesn't work" for the OP for some reason or another, I would have to think that there are same-day courier options available between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, probably including some kind of on-demand service where a messenger will take an item directly from a point in one city to a point in another. And, although probably more expensive than FedEx overnight, it might not even be as expensive as the OP's proposed solution: Airfare or ferry from Shenzhen to Hong Kong, flight from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, and train from Guangzhou to Shenzhen.

Steve M

That story doesn't speak one way or the other as to what discretionary authority the officials in Moscow had. All we know is that none were used to accommodate those passengers. This brings up an important point: to the extent that officials have discretionary authority to do things outside of normal regulations, actually doing so is, well, at their discretion. You can't count on it.

garykung

My point was the discretion is not as wide as you think.