From July 10, non-Chinese permanent residents of Hong Kong have been able to apply for a new type of travel permit – the Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong & Macao Residents (non-Chinese Citizens).

Having just received their permits, Austrian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong & Macau former committee member Alfred Buchner and his family could not wait to cross the boundary and visit Shenzhen this weekend.

On arriving at a Mainland control point, they first had to activate their cards for self-service clearance at manual service stations. This involved being photographed and collection of fingerprints. 

Mr Buchner described the process as smooth, adding that registration took around five minutes in total. He said it is now very easy for foreigners to enter the Mainland and that he believes many people will make use of the new permit.

Regardless of whether permit-holders have completed card-activation procedures at service stations, they should go through the manual inspection channels for their first entry with their new cards. Once their cards are activated, permit-holders can cross the boundary by using self-service clearance instead of going through manual inspection channels.