The Hong Kong identity card (officially HKIC, commonly HKID) is an official identity document issued by the Immigration Department of Hong Kong. According to the Registration of Persons Ordinance (Cap. 177), all residents of age 11 or above who are living in Hong Kong for longer than 180 days must, within 30 days of either reaching the age of 11 or arriving in Hong Kong, register for an HKID. HKIDs contain amongst others the name of the bearer in English, and if applicable in Chinese. The HKID does not expire for the duration of residency in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong permanent identity card is a class of HKID issued to Hong Kong residents who have the right of abode (ROA) in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. There are around 8.8 million Hong Kong identity cards in circulation.
The current HKID, named as the new smart identity card, features multiple security, durability and chip technology enhancements.
History
The use of identity documents has a long history in Hong Kong, starting with manually filled paper documents, to the smart card introduced on 23 June 2003.
Before 1949, people could move freely into and out of Hong Kong (then a British colony), and China (then Republic of China). Hong Kong residents who held Republic of China citizenship were not registered. In 1949, when the Government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan and the :People's Republic of China was established on the mainland, the Hong Kong Government began to register Hong Kong residents to issue compulsory identity documents. These measures were put into practice to manage the influx of migrants from China. The registration was completed in 1951. Although registration was compulsory for all residents, people were not required to carry their documents with them at all times when out in public.
Beginning on 1 June 1960, the government introduced the second generation of ID cards. These bore the holder's fingerprint and photograph, and an official stamp. The information was typed, and the card was laminated. Males had a blue card and females had a red card. The format of card was replaced in November 1973 with a card without fingerprints. The colour of the stamp identified and differentiated permanent residents (black) from non-permanent ones (green). New immigrants subsequently became known colloquially as "green stampers" ().
From 24 October 1980, carrying an identity card in public areas and showing it when requested by a police or immigration officer became compulsory. This law was passed to control large numbers of illegal immigrants arriving in the territory. The government adopted a policy of deporting illegal immigrants within three days if they could not produce a valid ID card.
From March 1983, digitally processed identity cards were introduced to reduce forgery. This also simplified border controls. On 1 June 1987, the Immigration Department produced cards without the coat of arms of British Hong Kong, which would last through the handover on 1 July 1997. Following the handover the cards display a smaller seal of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the back of the card. In 2003, the government began replacing the cards with smart ID cards in stages.
Hong Kong smart identity cards
On 23 June 2003, the Immigration Department of Hong Kong began issuing a new smart Identity card. The new cards contained an embedded microchip, which stored the bearer's information electronically. Previous HKIDs remained valid until the Executive Council, through the Secretary for Security, declared them invalid. In addition, existing holders of HKIDs were called to have their old-style HKIDs replaced by the new cards. Between August 2003 to 2007, all Hong Kong ID cards were replaced.
The introduction of smart identity cards was motivated partly to speed up processing at Hong Kong's Immigration checkpoints, especially with Shenzhen, China. In the latter checkpoint, an estimated 7,200 Hong Kong residents commuted daily to Shenzhen for work and 2,200 students from Shenzhen commuted to school in Hong Kong in 2002.
Hong Kong New smart identity cards
On 29 November 2017, the design of a new smart ID card was introduced. The card is equipped with built-in radio frequency identification, expanded storage for higher-resolution photo, hologram background, rainbow printing, and micro-printed text. It was designed to prevent counterfeiting.
On 27 December 2018, the Immigration Department started the replacement procedure for all existing smart identity cards under the Territory-wide Identity Card Replacement Exercise. The programme features 24 phases, from 2018 to 2023.