Hong Kong Document of Identity For Visa Purposes - Use - Overseas

Overseas

Few foreign countries/territories which offer visa-free access to Hong Kong SAR passport holders confer the same privilege to holders of the Hong Kong SAR Document of Identity.

In theory, recognised refugees and stateless individuals who possess a Hong Kong SAR Document of identity can enter Germany and Hungary visa-free for a maximum of 90 days within a 180 day period. In the case of Germany, for recognised refugees to enter visa-free, their travel document must be endorsed and issued under the terms of the Agreement of 15 October 1946 regarding the issue of travel documents to refugees or the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, whilst stateless individuals need to have their travel document issued under the terms of the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons of 28 September 1954. However, though the People's Republic of China is a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, since the Handover in 1997, Hong Kong has not incorporated the convention into its legislation, and so Hong Kong's immigration system does not recognise refugees. Similarly, both the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong are not signatories to the 1954 Stateless Persons Convention. Consequently, in practice, the visa exemption to Germany does not apply to any holder of the HKSAR Document of Identity. However, Hong Kong stateless individuals do nonetheless qualify for a visa exemption to Hungary since the Hungarian government does not require their HKSAR Document of Identity to be issued under the terms of the 1954 Stateless Persons Convention.

If the holder of a Document of Identity is a school pupil who is an Annex I national (i.e. he/she is required to possess a visa for all stays in Schengen agreement states), he/she can enter Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden visa-free by virtue of Article 4(2) as long as they are travelling as part of a school trip led by a school teacher for a maximum of 90 days within a 180 day period. For entry into Sweden, the school pupil must be less than 18 years old. This visa exemption applies equally to any Annex I national (e.g. a Chinese citizen who holds a Mainland China passport) who is resident in Hong Kong who satisfies the above conditions. Note, however, that this visa exemption for school pupils does not apply to the holder of a Document of Identity if he/she is stateless, since he/she would not fulfil the criteria of being the national of an Annex I country.

Since holders of the Hong Kong SAR Document of Identity are not usually Chinese citizens (unless, for example, they are new immigrants from other parts of China to Hong Kong and have been unable to obtain an ordinary Chinese passport), they are not entitled to the consular protection offered by the People's Republic of China government while overseas. However, Chinese foreign missions are able to assist should a Document of Identity become lost or stolen whilst abroad.