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[senor boogie woogie]

Hola!

I have wondered since I have lived in China, what the status of Hong Kong people are in citizenry.

If you are born before July 1, 1997, are you a British citizen? Are you a dual citizen of the UK and China today? What is the citizenship of the kids born after 7/1997, PRC citizens, Hong Kong citizens, or children of UK citizens, which also makes them British subjects?

Can anyone explain it to me?

Senor

[Ger]

A Hong Kong permanent resident/citizen, not a PRC resident/citizen.
A British National Overseas (BNO).

post July 1997, offspring of HK permanent residents are HK residents, not PRC citizens, can apply for British National Overseas status.

[Roger]

Interesting question that the British and the Chinese haggled over for years...

CHinese Hongkongers are CHinese citizens afforded a special privilege - their HK Special Administrative Region grants them their own passport, which affords them visa-free access to a multitude of countries including the E.U. and Australia.
The British didn't want a mass exodus of HK CHinese to over-populated Britain; at some point in the discussions the then East Germany thought they could lure Hongkongers there to help restart their moribund economy. THen the Berlin Wall came down, and the dream has gone...
Many Hongkongers emigrated or became victims of unscrupulous citizenship marketeers; inexistent "states" sold citizenship rights and passports... The majority, however, remained in HK, and hundreds of thousands obtained Australian or Canadian passports for convenience' sake.
There was a second option - the British National (Overseas) passport. This is a document that was widely in use prior to 1997; a minority still keep it. The British have recently started a passport renewal exercise. Renewal is for free. BUt what's the point? You are a CHinese citizen of Hong Kong (or an Indian - many Indians have no Indian citizenship rights any more due to the change in sovereignty in India in 1947). These passports mean you are treated as a foreign traveller in the mainland, and as a British traveller in many Asian countries. However, the 'Overseas" between brackets also limits your citizenship to where you hail from. You cannot go to seek employment or residency in the UK and its dependencies.

Many HK Chinese even own several passports. Personally, I have a problem with people seeking foreign citizenship rights for their own convenience only.

Then there are the Macau Chinese: The Macau passport is like a HK SAR passport. In addition, they can settle in Portugal, and thus in the E.U.

[tparker]

That was indeed an interesting question, and more or less answered by Roger. I just wish to add a few things to clarify.

Hong Kong citizens born prior to July 1st 1997 were eligible to apply for a British National (Overseas) passport - the main form of travel documentation available to HK'ers during British rule of the territory. The BN(O) passport is NOT a UK passport, and does not come with right of abode in the United Kingdom (or Europe) - but does offer UK consular protection to HK citizens who wish to travel abroad with this travel document.

Today, the BN(O) passport is less popular due to the lack of countries it gains access to visa free. On the other hand, the Hong Kong SAR Passport, available after July 1st 1997 (including to people born before that date and who hold BNO doorstops...er...passports) allows visa free entry to an impressive list of countries. Refer to http://immd.gov.hk/ehtml/topical_4.htm for the full list - you will notice even Yemen and Pakistan listed there... which even a REAL UK passport cannot offer.

- on a side note, you can also get a visa for Iran with a Hong Kong passport for approximately $150HKD, whereas a UK passport holder would pay three times that amount.

The only country of desire (and that's arguble) which the HKSAR passport does not gain visa free entry to at current is the USA - but that's just the USA being a-nal, and even their so-called VWP (Visa waiver program) is all a scam anyways since UK passport holders still have to pay upon arrival to gain entry to the country.

Like Roger, I too have a problem with people seeking foreign citizenship just for their own convenience. The world is a big place, and if one wishes to emmigrate because the truly desire to live in another country then I am fine with that (afterall... it's unfair that we should be confined to where we're born by virtue of the fact we were born there). However - I don't like people who fled HK pre-1997 just to gain a foreign passport... and then came back all grumbling about the lack of jobs in those countries.

Unlike Macau, the fact that you were born before July 1st does not make you a British citizen - it only allows you to hold a BN(O) passport. You are still classified as a HK citizen. Kids born after July 1st are also classified as a HK citizen - not a PRC citizen. Hong Kong people can, however, apply for "return home permits", which are essentially travel documents that allow access to the mainland - ironically, access to more of the mainland than actual PRC citizens have (such as to the special economic zones). I believe these passes also allow the holder to live and work in China too? Although I am not positive about this....

With Macau, because of the small population, the Portuguese government granted residents there before the handover REAL Portuguese passports. This effectively allows them to live in the EU of course, but many still chose to live in Macau even after the handover showing that the UK's fears of a mass-exodus are somewhat misguided. I hold a British passport but heck, I don't WANT to live in the UK - i'm perfectly happy in Hong Kong.

To clarify one thing though, I don't believe that the Macau SAR passport allows the holder to settle in Portugal - as Roger's post implied. For those Macau residents who are born after the handover they are not eligible to Portguese passports, and therefore are stuck with Macau (and the PRC - through the 'return home permits').

Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong!

Terence