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. It is also the
de facto citizenship status in Hong Kong because most citizen rights are associated with the right of abode. However, Hong Kong permanent residents are not entitled to a
Hong Kong passport or stand for office in some
Legislative Council constituencies, unless they are also naturalised
Chinese citizens. Under the Hong Kong Basic Law, permanent residents are: •
Chinese citizens born in Hong Kong before or after the establishment of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; • 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; • Persons of Chinese nationality born outside Hong Kong whose parents are permanent residents, listed in categories (1) and (2); • 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; • 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 • 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==