Smart Hong Kong ID cards to be replaced from 2018 to 2022

The government plans to begin replacing all Hong Kong smart identity cards with more secure ones in four years, a Legislative Council paper shows.

It is estimated that the replacement process - expected to last from 2018 to 2022 - will cost about HK$3.3 billion.

In the paper, which was released yesterday for the Legco panel on security's January 6 meeting, the government said that the existing smart ID cards, which were issued between 2003 and 2007, would exceed their serviceable lifespan of 10 years by 2017.

This would mean that the cards were gradually becoming more susceptible to damage and malfunction.

The government said the introduction of new ID cards would avoid "circumstances where a large number of [smart ID cards would fail] in a short period of time".

This might cause "grave public inconvenience" if the Immigration Department was not able to handle all replacement applications.