Hong Kong residents

This article is about legal definition of 'Hong Kong residents'. For people who originate from Hong Kong, see Hong Kong people.

Hong Kong residents (Chinese: 香港居民), also called Residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, according to the Hong Kong Basic Law include permanent residents and non-permanent residents. Rights of Hong Kong residents are protected by the Basic Law such as freedom of speech, freedom of movement and freedom of religious belief.

Permanent residents

Hong Kong permanent residents have the right of abode in Hong Kong and the right to vote in elections for the Legislative Council and the District Council.

Under the Hong Kong Basic Law, permanent residents are:

1. Chinese citizens born in Hong Kong before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
2. Chinese citizens who have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
3. Persons of Chinese nationality born outside Hong Kong of those residents listed in categories (1) and (2);
4. Persons not of Chinese nationality who have entered Hong Kong with valid travel documents, have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years and have taken Hong Kong as their place of permanent residence before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
5. Persons under 21 years of age born in Hong Kong of those residents listed in category (4) before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; and
6. Persons other than those residents listed in categories (1) to (5), who, before the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, had the right of abode in Hong Kong only.

The status of permanent resident was first introduced into Hong Kong law on 1 July 1987 when it replaced Hong Kong belonger status in the Hong Kong Immigration Ordinance Cap 115.

Non-permanent residents

Non-permanent residents of Hong Kong are persons qualified to obtain Hong Kong Identity Cards (HKID) but have no right of abode. According to the Registration of Persons Ordinance (chapter 177 of the Laws of Hong Kong), all residents of age 11 or above who are living in Hong Kong for longer than 180 days must, within 30 days of either reaching the age of 11 or arriving in Hong Kong, register for an HKID.

Non-permanent residents do not qualify for a Hong Kong passport but can obtain a Document of Identity to travel if they are unable to obtain a national passport or travel document from any other country.