Any holder shall not possess more than one valid Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport at any time.

The Immigration Department issued the statement tonight in response to media enquiries, saying it does not comment on individual cases.

According to the prevailing practice of the department, HKSAR passport holders may apply for a replacement passport when their HKSAR passport expires, it said.

Unless the passport has been lost, damaged or defaced, or personal particulars have to be amended, holders may apply for a replacement passport before its expiry.

For a replacement application, the previous passport should be produced to the department for cancellation upon collection of the new one.

A corner shall be cut on the previous passport and this cancelled passport shall be returned to the applicant.

If the existing passport bears a valid visa, applicants may also apply to cross link the existing passport with the new passport upon application for replacement of their HKSAR passport.

Cross linking of a HKSAR passport means making an endorsement on both the previous and new passports that the previous passport bears a visa which is still in force, but the previous passport shall be cancelled by means of cutting, it added.