Local Laws

CRIMINAL PENALTIES: While you are traveling in Hong Kong, you are subject to its laws.  Foreign laws and legal systems can be vastly different from our own. Persons violating Hong Kong laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested, or imprisoned.  Penalties for possessing, using, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Hong Kong are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines.  Police have the right to take you in for questioning if you don’t have your passport with you. There are also some things that might be legal in the country you visit, but still illegal in the United States.  You can be prosecuted in the United States for engaging in sexual conduct with children or for using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country regardless of the legality of these activities under that country’s laws. Counterfeit and pirated goods are illegal in the United States and if you purchase them in a foreign country, you may be breaking local law as well. 

Arrest notifications in Hong Kong: Hong Kong authorities regularly notify the U.S. consulate if they know that a U.S. citizen has been detained or arrested.  However, to ensure that the U.S. government is aware of your circumstances, request that the police and prison officials notify the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate as soon as you are arrested or detained.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: Hong Kong SAR customs authorities enforce strict regulations concerning controlled items you might be carrying while transiting Hong Kong (temporary importation or exportation). Most prominent of these items are weapons, not limited to firearms and ammunition. You will be subject to prosecution and possible detention if you are caught carrying any weapon  or ammunition in or out of Hong Kong, including transiting via Hong Kong airport.  Unless otherwise exempted by laws, possession of an "imitation firearm" is also an offense. "Arms" can mean: any firearm, air rifle/air gun/air pistol from which any shot, bullet or missile can be discharged with a muzzle energy greater than two joules; a taser or any electric stunning device, gun/pistol or other propelling/releasing instrument from or by which a projectile containing any gas or chemical could be discharged; and weapons for the discharge of any noxious liquid/gas/powder, and harpoon or spear gun.  Paintball guns are included in this category. Other items defined as weapons include Chinese-style throwing darts, gravity knives, gravity-operated, spring loaded or extendable steel batons, brass knuckles, Chinese-style fighting irons, any knife with a blade that can be exposed by a spring or other mechanical/electric device, and any bladed/pointed weapon. Although such items are openly sold in mainland China, they cannot legally be brought into Hong Kong.

Electronic cigarettes are regulated as pharmaceutical products, so possessing them without the proper authority could result in a stiff fine and up to two years in prison.

Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) security routinely and completely screens any luggage loaded on to an aircraft in Hong Kong whether belonging to a departing or transiting passenger.  Discovery of weapons of any kind during this screening will be referred to the police for investigation, leading to arrest and detention.  Other controlled items include counterfeit goods or illegally-produced copies of copyrighted items, ivory, narcotics, medications, television decoders requiring a subscription, animals and plants, meat and poultry, textiles, electronic cigarettes, and sensitive high technology or military products.  If you bring such goods into Hong Kong without the necessary Hong Kong documents, you may be prosecuted and the goods may be seized.  The penalty for trafficking in dangerous drugs can be life imprisonment and a heavy fine.  Among the other items that you must declare to customs officials are liquors, tobacco, cigarettes and cigars, methyl alcohol, and merchandise imported for commercial purposes.  There are no currency restrictions for travelers.

Please visit the website of the Hong Kong Department of Customs and Excise for specific information regarding Hong Kong customs requirements.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection encourages the use of an ATA (Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission) carnet for the temporary admission of professional equipment, commercial samples, and/or goods for exhibitions and fair purposes.  For additional information, please visit the U.S. Council for International Business website, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection web page on Traveling with Samples.

You may bring dogs and cats into Hong Kong only with a special permit that must be issued in advance.  Dogs and cats imported from the United States may be exempted from quarantine when they have valid health and vaccination certificates and the pets have been in the United States for at least six months immediately preceding travel.

Additional information on importing pets is available on the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department website.

Please see our Customs Information sheet.

Please note that mace, pepper spray, stun guns, and other self-protection weapons are banned in Hong Kong.

Scams: Internet dating and romance scams, as well as financial scams, occur in Hong Kong as they do in many other jurisdictions.  Please see the Consular Affairs web pages on Internet Dating and Romance Scams and on International Financial Scams for ways to spot these scams and ways to protect yourself.

Dual nationality: According to the PRC nationality law, if one or both of a child’s parents are Chinese nationals, the child is considered to be a PRC citizen.  This would be the case even if a child also qualifies for U.S. citizenship. 

Under the U.S.-PRC Consular Convention, all U.S. citizens entering Hong Kong on their U.S. passports are considered by the Hong Kong SAR authorities to be U.S. citizens for purposes of ensuring consular access and protection for the first 90 days they are in Hong Kong.

If you are a dual U.S.-Hong Kong national who is or previously was a Hong Kong resident, and you wish to ensure U.S. consular access and protection after your initial 90-day period of admission into Hong Kong, you must present your U.S. passport to the Hong Kong Immigration Department and complete an application for declaration of change of nationality.  A declaration of change of nationality will ensure U.S. consular protection, but it may also result in loss of your Chinese nationality (although not necessarily your right of abode).  If you fail to declare your U.S. nationality, you may jeopardize your U.S. consular protection, but you will not jeopardize your U.S. citizenship.  If you are a dual U.S.-Hong Kong resident of Hong Kong and you entered Hong Kong on your Hong Kong identity card but you desire U.S. consular protection, you will have to declare your U.S. nationality with the Hong Kong Immigration Department.  Information on how to declare your citizenship to Hong Kong authorities may be found on the Hong Kong Immigration Department’s website.

If you are a dual national contemplating onward travelto mainland China, you should strongly consider which passport you will use to enter and exit China.  In practice, the U.S. embassy and consulates in the PRC are not able to provide you with consular protection if you did not use your U.S. passport to enter or exit China.

For further information on consular protection and dual nationality, please refer to our website.  Information on Hong Kong permanent residence may be obtained from the Hong Kong Immigration Department’s right of abode webpage.

Typhoons: During the typhoon season (July through September), the Hong Kong Observatory issues typhoon warnings an average of six times a year and heavy rainstorm alerts more frequently.  The Hong Kong Observatory has an excellent notification and monitoring system.  You may find general information about natural disaster preparedness at the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  Please be advised that if the Hong Kong Government announces a Typhoon Signal 8 or above or Black Rainstorm Warning, the Consulate General will close.  You may find additional information on typhoon and storm preparedness on the Hurricane Preparedness and Natural Disasters pages of the Bureau of Consular Affairs website.

WOMEN TRAVELER INFORMATION: If you are a woman traveling abroad, please review our travel tips for Women Travelers.

LGBT RIGHTS: There are no legal restrictions on same-sex relations between consenting adults or the organization of LGBT events in Hong Kong.  For more detailed information about LGBT rights in Hong Kong you may review the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.  For further information on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) travel, please read our LGBT Travel Information page.

ACCESSIBILITY: While in Hong Kong, individuals with disabilities may find accessibility and accommodation very different from what they find in the United States.  Hong Kong law prohibits discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other state services, and the government generally enforces these provisions.  The law mandates access to buildings, information, and communications for persons with disabilities.  The Social Welfare Department is primarily responsible for coordinating and funding public assistance programs to persons with disabilities.  The Hong Kong Tourism Board publishes “Accessible Hong Kong” a guide for visitors with disabilities and the Transport Department publishes A Guide to Public Transport for People with Disabilities.  In addition, the Hong Kong government created Cyberable, a barrier free portal website, to provide one-stop information for persons with various disabilities.

Despite efforts to improve accessibility, Hong Kong continues to be challenging for those with physical disabilities.  It has many stairs, inclines, and steep, uneven walkways not designed for anyone who uses a walker, cane, crutches, or wheelchair.