Hong Kong permanent residents overseas balk at high cost of returning to renew status, seek ‘leniency’ during pandemic

Travel curbs put some at risk of losing right of abode if they don’t return within three years

Many have ‘emotional ties’ with city, hope residency renewal rules can be eased during pandemic

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Travel restrictions make it hard to turn to Hong Kong. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 9:00am, 4 Jul 2021Updated: 11:00pm, 4 Jul 2021

American citizen Elliott W. spent about HK$15,000 (US$1,900) on airline tickets and 21 nights in a quarantine hotel to keep his Hong Kong permanent resident status.

“This trip costs more than bringing my entire family to Hong Kong to visit,” said the 39-year-old father of two, a hospitality industry worker in Yokohama, Japan.

With Covid-19 pandemic restrictions still in place, he would have preferred not to travel, but the deadline for renewing his residency status was approaching.

Permanent residents not of Chinese nationality living outside Hong Kong must return within a three-year period or risk losing their right of abode, along with government benefits and the right to vote.

If they lose their permanent residency, they still retain the “right to land”, a lower immigration status which lets them live, work and study in the city without entitlements such as welfare benefits and cash payouts.

Elliott W. with his family in Japan. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s tough ongoing Covid-19 travel restrictions have made it hard for foreign permanent residents to return within the 36-month period.