Immigrations Office
Well I went to the immigration office out in Wan Chai to try to get my Hong Kong Identity Card. I made an appointment last week, only to find out that it really serves no purpose to make the appontment because I haven't submitted the documents yet. Instead of going to the 8F HK ID office, I need to go back to the 2nd floor to Visa enquiry to ask about getting a package then I have to submit that in as well. I hope this all works out, I was getting a bit pissed off because they couldn't explain to me why they wanted me to go get a visa. I called Alvin and he told me he didn't even need a Visa. Well, I can't blame them for not being able to speak English but I certainly was a bit confused.Afterwards I walked over to a McDonalds to look over the forms. Of course they ask for my parent's Hong Kong ID cards so I needed to contact them first about sending me a copy. So I decided to walk back from Wan Chai to Causeway Bay and maybe do some shopping for household items. I was really short on money after paying my rent and such so I decided to exchange this $100 CAD bill I had with me. I just walked up to one of those exchange booths that rip you off on the admin fee or the exchange rate. The lady in the booth quoted me 5.8. Pretty bad since the banks would give me probably 6.1. For $100 CAD that doesn't make that much of a difference so I decided to just do it while I'm there so that I can get something to eat. I don't know what happened, I have a bad habit of trusting other people to count out money properly, but she gave me over $800 HKD back. I had already walked away by then and I don't quite remember where along the street between Wan Chai and Causeway Bay that little booth was. Instead of being all lonely and eating by myself I decided to go home instead to find my roommate.
My roommate has been tutoring at home. Every morning and sometimes in the afternoon these kids come by and they hold sessions. It is pretty fun to think that these kids consider me a giant. One of the kids asked if I hit my head on the door frame because I am so tall. Well the kid was also afraid to speak with me, I don't know why. Hong Kong kids are pretty shy I find. Afterwards we went down to Causeway Bay to find a Cafe to get some sort of drink. I had gotten a hold of Priscilla earlier and made arrangements to meet up with after she got her hair cut.
We met Priscilla over at Sogo and my roommate decided to head home. We went over to eat at this place called Satay Wong. The food is okay and the price is cheap. They have these interesting seats in the back where you have two people who step into what looks like a small boat. It looks romantic but if you are by yourself it looks lonely.
Afterwards there is this dessert place close by that sells these cremed milk desserts. I don't know how to explain it, they just taste like milk that has been cremed. But it was an interesting experience, I'm happy to get some calcium in me while I'm in HK. Priscilla likes to walk and I am use to walking. We decided to walk over near my work place and then eventually back to her house. It was suppose to be one station then it just ended up the next one and then up the hill back to Quarry Bay. The road has a decent incline and you can feel it work somewhat like the step machines. The experience was great the hill tops are beautiful. Priscilla lives all the way at the end of Tin Hau Temple Road. I grabbed some juice at her appartment and she showed me the view from the balcony. It is truely splendid. I forgot my camera but if she permits I'll make the trek back to see the sight. I met her cousin as well, a very energetic and lively person. She has so many stories to tell and we made fun of her americanish accent all night.
Wandered around a night down towards the mainroad and managed to find my way back home and bonded with my roommate for the rest of the night. Trying to turn this into a Westmount style living. There's a lot to see of Hong Kong still, hopefully I can head up to one of the mountains sometime.
posted by Tempest7 @ 09:00
4 Comments:
Seems weird that you would need a visa. Could it be due to the lack of proper documentation? To apply for HK ID you will need a certified long form document of your canadian birth certificate. NOT the little laminated card we carry in our wallets. Applications for Request for Birth Certificate can be picked up at:
Toronto Counter
Macdonal Block, Rm M2-49
900 Bay St., 2nd Fl (Bay & Wellesley)
Toront, ON M7A 1Y5
8:30am-5pm
Questions:
Office of the Registrar General
1.800.461.2156
Submissions will take 6 months to process. Urgent service is available upon proof of need and a special fee is required. Have your boss prepare a letter of employment for you stating this urgency for the document. Have someone IN PERSON submit this with your document request (at the office listed above).
Your parents will also have to have a valid HK ID I believe. If it's expired then you'll have to figure that out.
It would benefit you greatly to befriend an officer at the HK ID office.
I highly recommend every Canadian born to apply for this document. This is THE document!
This is the process our family went through. Hope this helps. Best of luck!
Well it is looking good. After I mailed in the application I got a short letter a week afterwards from the "Right of Abode Section" acknowledging receipt of my application. The letter is marked June 21, 2005. Still need to see if it clears but at least they got it. I put in photo copies of:
1) My Passport
2) Long form Canadian Birth Certificate (look at tiff's post)
3) Photo copy of my parent's old HK ID card
4) Photo copy of their old British Passport
5) Father's birth certificate
I don't really need to send part of that stuff. The main thing is they want proof that they were permenant residences of HK and they held a valid HK ID. I don't know yet if the HK ID needs to be valid or not. Also the birth certificate obviously showing my relationship to them.
Hey Freddy,
That's great! Wow, that sounded so easy. Maybe our family took longer to process because one of our parents is HK and the other is taiwan. It's alot easier when both your parents are from HK. =) Missing you lots.
Actually, I got the other mail recently and it isn't easy. They also require the following documents (My mother is from China not HK)
-HK ID of my father (he can't find it)
-Travel document of both my parents showing their immigration status in Canada
-Canada naturalization certifcate of both of my parents
-Marriage certificate
-Parent's Canadian Landing paper/ landing endorsement
Plus I need to fill out another form. >.<
Post a Comment
<< Home