|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
March 8, 2014 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Home Return Permit (Simplified Chinese character|Simplified Chinese: ?????????, Traditional Chinese character|Traditional Chinese: ?????????, pinyin: Hu??xi??ng Zh??ng), also refered to as 'home visit permit', or 'China Back Home Pass', is a national identity document issued to Chinese Nationality Law|PRC citizens from Hong Kong and Macao as the entry permit to mainland China. It is issued by the Public Security Bureau of Guangdong province through China Travel Service sub-branches in Hong Kong and Macao. Currently, the permit is a small wallet-sized card which faciliates travel and self-service electronic gates on the mainland side, which is replacing cumbersome permits formerly issued and stamping procedures before. This card is officially known as the Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents (?????????????????????????????????, ?????????????????????????????????, G??ng-A?? J??m??n L??iw??ng N??id?? T??ngx??ngzh??ng). Before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, permits resembled a passport physically (though the PRC Government never recognise it as a passport) and the mainland authorities stamped the permits upon entering and exiting. The passport-looking permit was known as Home-Visiting Certificate for Compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao (?????????????????????, ?????????????????????, G??ng-A?? T??ngba?? Hu??xi??ng Zh??ng). Usually these permits are valid for 10 years or 3 years for minors under 18. However, sometimes there are one or two-time home visit permits issued due to political reasons. Some pro-democracy politicians are only issued single visit permits. Temporary permits are also used for those for practical reasons, such as a person's permit has expired and the replacement has not arrived. Before the handover|transfer of sovereignty, home return permits were issued to any ethnic Chinese person in Hong Kong or Macao as the PRC Government did not recognise the unequal treaty|colonial era treaties. A home return permit constitutes proof of PRC citizenship; however, not all PRC citizens in Hong Kong or Macao have a home return permit. Unlike a compulsory Hong Kong identity card, application for a home return permit is voluntary. A home return permit must be applied for. In some cases, the PRC authorities refuse to issue permits to certain people. Some prominent :category:Hong Kong politicians|politicians in Hong Kong, such as Emily Lau and Leung Kwok Hung, have had their applications denied because they are not considered friendly to the Central People's Government|central government in Beijing. Without the permit they are denied from entering mainland China; however, those politicians are still PRC citizens under the Chinese Nationality Law; acquisition of PRC citizenship of ethnic Chinese residents in Hong Kong is involuntary. They are still eligible for an HKSAR passport|Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport issued by the Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Government, or an MSAR passport by the Macao Government. The SAR passports are only issued to PRC citizens with the Right of abode issue, Hong Kong|Right of Abode in Hong Kong or Macao. The HKSAR passport allows travel to other countries, including Immigration arrangements for British passport holders from Hong Kong visiting the Republic of China (Taiwan)|Taiwan. PRC citizens holding an HKSAR passport cannot use the SAR passport to enter the Chinese mainland. The HKSAR Government thinks that "in line with the one country principle, it was considered inappropriate to adopt HKSAR passport as a travel document to enter the Mainland". http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr98-99/english/panels/se/minutes/se310399.htm Issues facing British passport holders Many, but not all, residents of Hong Kong are British Nationals (Overesas) (BN(O)) and a small number are British Citizens (BC). (See British nationality law and Hong Kong for details). The PRC Government does not recognise British passports (BN(O) and BC) issued to Hong Kong residents of Chinese origin. They cannot use their BN(O) or British Citizen passports to enter the Chinese mainland before and after the handover. However, before the handover some 'pro-United Kingdom' Hong Kong politicians, such as Margaret Ng http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/reports/press/pr200999.html http://www.democracy.org.hk/EN/sep1999/hr_23.htm, Emily Lau http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/39749.stm http://www.democracy.org.hk/pastweek/97_dec/mirsky9.htm http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/reports/eng_elerpt.html and Christine Loh http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/97/0905/feat5.html used to attempt to use their British Citizen passports to enter mainland China because they were denied from applying for a Home Return Permit. There were rare occasions when British passport holders were issued a visa, even the holder is a PRC citizen under Chinese Nationality Law. In 2005, Ching Cheong (程翔), a Hong Kong-based journalist of the Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times, was arrested by the mainland national security authorities. He was accused of 'stealing state secrets'. The correspondent entered the mainland on his home return permit, while he is also a BN(O) passport holder. Since he is both PRC citizen and British National (Overseas) (as well as a permanent resident of Singapore), some organisations (for example, the Hong Kong Journalists' Association and Reporters without borders) urged the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw (politician)|Jack Straw to intervene. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it had no plans to comment on the case. British officials have indicated that if there were any representations to be made, they would take place behind the scenes. A London spokesperson said: "We can offer consular assistance but we cannot interfere in the legal affairs of another country." The PRC Central People's Government|central government never recognised his British National (Overseas) status. The PRC states that its citizens from Hong Kong cannot enjoy United Kingdom consular protection inside the PRC on the basis of their BN(O) or BC passports. In the Six-Monthly Report (January-June 2005) on Hong Kong (paragraph 61) (press release http://www.britishconsulate.org.hk/english/press/pr050719b.htm) (full report in PDF(186KB) http://www.britishconsulate.org.hk/common/17thSixMonthlyReport.pdf) presented by the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, it is stated that "Mr Ching is a British National (Overseas) passport holder and we have pressed the central authorities for information on the circumstances of his arrest and will continue to seek consular access as a matter of urgency, which so far has been denied." There are other cases that the British Government was asked to assist BN(O) passport holders detained inside the Chinese mainland. http://www.hkhrc.org.hk/content/currentissues/1999andbefore/issue_99oct_dec/issue_9911_e.htm#bno http://www.fmcoprc.gov.hk/chn/xwfb/gsxwg/2000/t40816.htm Not all BN(O) and BC passport holders in Hong Kong are PRC citizens. Such non-citizens holding BN(O)s or BCs need a visa prior to their travel into the mainland. Home return permits are issued to PRC citizens only. Issues facing other foreign passport holders Besides BN(O)s, BCs, and Chinese citizenship, many Hong Kong residents have obtained overseas citizenship in countries such as Australia, Canada or the United States. Officially speaking, if they have not make a "declaration of change of nationality" at the Immigration Department of Hong Kong, they are regarded as PRC citizens while anywhere in the Peoples' Republic of China. In this case, they are required to use their home-visit permits to enter China instead of their foreign passports, as most of such dual nationals do. This implies that they are still PRC citizens. A small number of such dual nationals use their foreign passports to enter China and they are issued the Chinese visa "in error". The issue of whether these dual nationals can enjoy foreign consular protection while in China remains controversial. The PRC central government claims that such nationals cannot enjoy foreign consular protection even though they entered China on their foreign passports. The foreign government may claim that those dual citizens can enjoy foreign consular protection even though they entered mainland China on a home return permit. In Taiwan, multiple national citizenships are fully Immigration arrangements for British passport holders from Hong Kong visiting the Republic of China (Taiwan)|recognised by the Republic of China. PRC citizens that are residents in the mainland are required to apply for an exit endorsement to visit Hong Kong and Macao just as they would for other countries.
Category:Hong Kong law Category:Politics of Hong Kong category:Macau category:Personal documents category:Personal identification zh:????????????????????????????????? Category:Hong Kong travel documents This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Home Return Permit".
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
![[F]](/images/site.gif){kind=small}
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
All informatin on the site is © FamousChinese.com 2002-2005. Last revised: January 2, 2004 Are you interested in our site or/and want to use our information? please read how to contact us and our copyrights. To post your business in our web site? please click here. To send any comments to us, please use the Feedback. To let us provide you with high quality information, you can help us by making a more or less donation: |