Permanent Resident of The MSAR
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Hong Kong Relax Entry Regulations for Macao Permanent Residents
Macao Special Administrative Region and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed today a memorandum on easier entry regulations for Macao SAR residents. According to the memorandum, permanent residents of Macao SAR who have the Electronic Macao SAR Permanent Resident Identity Card (with computer chips included) may enter Hong Kong SAR with their resident identity Card and a special declaration form. The new regulations do not extend to those who need a traveling visa to enter Hong Kong currently, including nationals of 41 countries and holders of certain traveling documents. However, they may enjoy visa-free entry to Hong Kong by applying to a special varification arrangement, if they agreed to have the Macao SAR Identity Bureau submitting their personal information to the Hong Kong SAR Immigration Department. There are currently 435 Macao SAR permanent residents who need visa to enter Hong Kong; they will be contacted by the identification Department individually for their willingness to do so. The new regulations also include a lift of the ban on non permanent Macao residents who obtained their identity card for less than two years to apply for the Visit Permit to HK SAR. The new regulations were scheduled to be in effect from 18 October. The Special declaration form can be obtained through Self-Service Kiosk at the Macao Ferry Terminal and the Macao Identification Bureau. Currently, the number of Electronic Macao SAR Permanent Resident Identity Card holder is approximately 124,000. DSI will start the mass replacement process by the end of this year. Consequently, when travelling to Hong Kong. Furthermore, once the replacement process finishes in early 2007, the number of individuals involved will increase to 440,000.
In the Macau SAR, are most people dual citizens (i.e. Chinese Citizens of the MSAR and other citizenships e.g. Portuguese, British)?
I'm not sure about the exact number of people with dual citizenship, although there are quite a few people who do have it for several reasons, especially since historically Macau has been quite the melting pot. However, I should make the distinction that what many "locals" have is not Chinese nationality, or citizenship, but Macau residency. Take me for example, I'm a Portuguese national (with a Portuguese passport and born in continental Portugal) but I have a Macau Permanent Resident Card, commonly known as a BIR (Bilhete de Identidade de Residente Permamente). I'm not sure of the rules right now because for awhile they changed, but what happened for me is that I stayed in Macau for 7 years on a temporary resident status, and after that I became a permanent resident (I was granted temporary resident status on my arrival because Macau was still under Portuguese administration and my mother went there as a government employee). This means that although I'm not, nor have I ever been, a Chinese national citizen, in Macau I have more rights than any Chinese citizen who does not have Macau residency. I can live, work, start a business, vote in local elections, get the yearly government handout, etc. while a Chinese national who isn't a BIR holder (permanent or temporary) can't, and would have to apply for a living and/or work permit for some of those things. Also, to be a resident is one thing, to live and work there is another. There are also green cards for guest workers. This is the situation of many a Filipino who have lived in Macau for most of their lives. My mother's house keeper is such an example. Her and her husband have lived there for most of their lives, got married there, had their two kids there, yet her husband recently had to leave Macau for 6 months because he was forced out of his job. So because he technically "quit", he has to leave the territory for that amount of time before coming back and reapplying for another job a a guest worker. Now I'm not sure how things are now because like I said, for awhile the rules changed, specifically when Portugal got hit by the financial crisis and a lot of people in Portugal decided to try their luck in the old colonies. All of a sudden there was a huge influx of lawyers and architects into the territory, because Portuguese nationals still had a leg up on getting temporary residency status, the government decided to change the rules, and stopped issuing temp residency. I think it was eventually reversed because it went against the terms agreed by Portugal and China in regards to the handover of the territory. The reason Portuguese nationals still have this much of an advantage over other nationalities is because unlike what Britain did in Hong Kong Portugal granted full Portuguese citizenship to a lot of Macau natives (what Hong Kongers got was a BNO, British National Overseas, passport, which they'll need a visa for if they wish to travel to the UK). Although usually the Portuguese community in Macau is quite small, I think there are over 100,000 residents with Portuguese nationality. This is why you'll often see going into or out of Macau a lot of native Chinese who have Portuguese passports. Being a fully recognized European Union citizen has its perks when it comes to travel, especially with a passport that will give them visa free entry into over 170 countries. Supposedly, if they want to have a Macau Chinese passport they'd have to renounce their Portuguese citizenship as China does not allow for dual citizenship, however, I've heard that the Chinese government turns a blind eye to the Macau situation, although I can only think of a couple of cases when I know of people with two passports.
Cases Analysis
【Naturalization as a Chinese National】 case1 Candy, a Chinese born in Macao, is a Portuguese passport holder. If only “Candy Lio” is stated in her birth certificate, graduation certificates and all of her identification documents, is it necessary for her to add a Chinese name in order to naturalize as a Chinese national? Ans:Candy is a Chinese born in Macao. According to “Nationality Law of the People’s Republic of China” and “Explanations of some questions by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress concerning the implementation of the Nationality Law of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao Special Administrative Region”, she possesses Chinese nationality and her Portuguese passport is considered as a travel document. Therefore, she does not need to naturalize as a Chinese national. In regard to the issue that she has not any Chinese name, there is no influence on her nationality.
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 According to the nationality law of the People's Republic of China and the explanations of some questions by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress concerning the implementation of nationality law in Macau, any Macau permanent resident holding Chinese nationality can apply for the Macau SAR passport.
2 Under Article 139 of The Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, MSAR passports shall be issued to Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the Macao Special Administrative Region, while MSAR travel permits shall be issued to other lawful residents of the Macao Special Administrative Region, including non-permanent residents and permanent residents of non-Chinese nationality of the Region.
3 According to the Basic Law, the definition of Macao people refers to the permanent residents of the MSAR, including Chinese, Portuguese and other people who meet the qualifications stipulated in the Basic Law.