The Immigration Department will start issuing new Smart Identity Cards from June 23.

Smart ID Cards will first be issued to the following groups of people when they apply for ID cards at five Registration of Persons Offices:

* New arrivals;

* Children who are eligible for a juvenile ID card upon reaching the age of 11;

* Young people who are eligible for an adult ID card upon reaching the age of 18;

* People whose ID cards have been lost, destroyed, damaged or defaced; and,

* Persons who wish to amend the particulars printed on their ID cards.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong-wide ID card replacement exercise will start on August 18.

The 6.9 million ID card holders will be invited through public announcements to attend one of the Smart ID Card Centres in batches in accordance with their years of birth, to have their cards replaced within specified periods.

To facilitate renovation works at the original sites for issuing Smart ID Cards, three Registration of Persons Offices will move to three future Smart ID Card Centres temporarily from June 23 to August 9. 

They will move back to their original sites on August 11. For details, please click here.

Moreover, to tie in with the issue of Smart ID Cards, the Immigration & Registration of Persons Offices in Fo Tan and Yuen Long will operate at their new offices from June 23. For details, please click here.

Enquiries can be made to the Information & Liaison Section of the Immigration Department by telephone 2824 6111, fax 2877 7711 or e-mail enquiry@immd.gov.hk.