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Jess Ma

Lo Hoi-ying

Bookings at a Hong Kong Island centre offering registration for a new five-year multi-entry mainland China travel permit for the city’s permanent residents with foreign passports are full for the first three weeks after the policy’s launch last Wednesday.
The Post discovered on Tuesday night that the earliest available appointment at the China Travel Services (CTS) centre in Central was for the afternoon of July 30.
But the CTS website said spots are available at the New Territories West service centre in Tuen Mun for as early as July 12.
The online phase of the application process has been available since the policy was announced on July 1, but in-person appointments at centres to complete the process only launched last Wednesday.
The new permit will allow non-Chinese permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau to visit the mainland for short-term investment, family trips, tourism, business, seminars and exchanges several times for a period of up to five years.
Permit holders can stay for up to 90 days on each trip and have self-service clearance at control checkpoints once they have their fingerprints taken at ports of entry.
But some of those going online to get the process started said they had had a hard time navigating the website.
Australian writer Aaron Busch, who writes on social media as Tripperhead, was among those who managed to get an appointment for Wednesday morning at the CTS centre in Mong Kok.
He said he was looking forward to travelling to Shanghai and Beijing on Hong Kong’s high-speed rail service.
“I’ve travelled to Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the past, before the pandemic, for holidays, but the visa process was expensive and cumbersome,” he added.
“This visa will be a game-changer in regards to visiting the mainland, and not just the Greater Bay Area.”
Busch said he at first struggled to find the application page on the CTS website when he tried on July 2, but found the rest of the process was smooth.
“The English version of the CTS website doesn’t mention the new visa at all,” he added. “And the phone number contact listed on the English website is no longer connected.
“It wasn’t confusing for me as I translated [the website], but it would have been very confusing for any non-Chinese reader.”
Busch also said the website at first told users to get a “Notice of Application for Access to Information” from the Immigration Department by fax or through an in-person appointment, as an online service only launched on July 3.
The document proves applicants’ Hong Kong permanent residency status and nationality information and is valid for six months before the permit application.

But Busch said the online application form was “fairly standard”.
He added that putting his wife down as an emergency contact had satisfied the requirement.
The Post also found that a reminder that the Mong Kok service centre was not equipped for people with mobility problems was only available in Chinese.
Candidates must fill in an application form and include a photo taken within the past six months as part of the process.
They are also required to have a Hong Kong permanent resident identity card, a passport valid for at least the next six months and a nationality certificate.
The first application will cost HK$260 (US$33), with renewals or replacements on the mainland costing 230 yuan (US$32).
CTS Hong Kong chairman Perry Yiu Pak-leung earlier said the permit would be issued within 20 working days after the application was accepted.


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Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong permanent residents book up service centre to get new mainland travel permit

The new permit will allow non-Chinese permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau to visit the mainland for short-term investment, family trips, tourism, business, seminars and exchanges multiple times for a period of up to five years. Photo: Jelly Tse

A sample image of the new travel permit for Hong Kong permanent residents with foreign passports. Photo: Handout

More steps in visa measures to come after non-Chinese mainland permit for Hong Kong permanent residents: John Lee

Chief Executive John Lee attends the China Conference on Thursday. Photo: May Tse

City leader John Lee says the latest visa measure has underlined Hong Kong’s “singular status” under the “one country, two systems” governing principle. Photo: May Tse

Will new travel permits for Hong Kong permanent residents hurt the economy?

Fears have been expressed that easier access to mainland China for permanent residents with foreign passports could hit the Hong Kong economy. Photo: Sam Tsang

Economist Simon Lee says new mainland visa for permanent residents with foreign passports could hit the city’s fragile economy, but will bring benefits. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Demand for mainland China travel permits surges as Hong Kong ethnic minority groups hail move

A lawmaker has said the scheme can encourage more non-Chinese Hongkongers to visit the mainland. Photo: Edmond So

District councillor Rizwan Ullah says members of the ethnic minority community have expressed an interest in applying for the travel permits as the current visa application procedures are “complex”. Photo: Sun Yeung

All you need to know: mainland China travel permit for Hong Kong permanent residents

Non-Chinese nationals with permanent residency in Hong Kong can apply for five-year travel permits to enter the mainland from July 10. Photo: Exit and Entry Administration

Travellers at Luohu port in Shenzhen. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

A view of Ma Tso Lung and Shenzhen. Photo: May Tse

News

Hong Kong

Online phase of application process for multi-entry travel permit launched on July 1, but in-person appointments only available from Wednesday


Online phase of application process for multi-entry travel permit launched on July 1, but in-person appointments only available from Wednesday.


Macau

Greater Bay Area

Tourism