If you would like to make Hong Kong your new permanent country of residence, our immigration team can help you gain the resident status quickly and easily.
Permanent residency is one’s (permanent) resident status in a country of which they are not citizens but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. If you are a permanent resident of Hong Kong it means that you have the legal right to come and go from Hong Kong and to take any job that is offered, to study or to establish any business.
The following persons are eligible to apply for permanent residency in Hong Kong:
If Hong Kong is your home and you go abroad for a temporary purpose, then your residency is considered to continue. This means that if you go somewhere else for a holiday, for business or to study, your ordinary residence is not interrupted. You can still accumulate 7 years of residence and the right of abode, even though you were absent during part of that period for a temporary purpose.
The 7-year period must be continuous, and only includes the period for which you have lawfully been in Hong Kong. Also, you must be in Hong Kong for a settled purpose (such as for employment, education or business purposes) during the entire 7-year period. A visitor or tourist cannot claim to be an ordinarily resident in Hong Kong, as visiting is not considered to be ordinary residence.
A valid permanent identity card is evidence that the person to whom the card relates enjoys the right of abode in Hong Kong.
Before you proceed to register for the issue of a permanent identity card, you will need to show that you are eligible for registration under the Registration of Persons Ordinance and Regulations. For this purpose, an administrative arrangement has been made for you to apply for verification of eligibility for a permanent identity card.
In general, spouses of Hong Kong permanent residents cannot acquire the right of abode in the HKSAR by virtue of their marriage unless they are eligible on their own accord for Hong Kong permanent resident status.
You must be in Hong Kong at the time of application. Applications from overseas will not be considered. Normally it will take six weeks to process your application if all of the supporting documents provided are in order, but it may take longer depending on the complexity and the number of applications received at a particular time.