What it is like to travel with a Hong Kong SAR Passport at selected borders
Traveling with an HKSAR passport has been a somewhat surreal experience. Nominally, the passport holder enjoys the so-called best of both worlds: semi-equal status to western passport holders who enjoy visa free entry to 170+ countries, and better treatment in “China-friendly” countries. Reality on the ground, however, is more complex. Many types of identification papers exist, and it is not uncommon for one country to issue multiple types of passports. How the immigration officials of the other 200+ countries perceive them, on the other hand, is a whole different story, and often leads to interesting experiences. Smooth Sailing Countries where there are no problems of traveling with the HKSAR passport are naturally those that most frequently receive Hong Kongers, namely different borders in the EU, Southeast Asia, East Asia, the US & Canada. Less popular but still frequented include some common traveling destinations like Egypt and Morocco, or some South American countr...