1. Does holding Hong Kong permanent residency affect the mainland household registration?
It depends on the applicant's needs; there is no mandatory requirement to cancel the mainland household registration, divided into three situations:

① During the period of holding a Hong Kong temporary identity card.
No impact, no need to cancel the mainland household registration.

② After obtaining a Hong Kong resident identity card and meeting the requirement of renewing for 7 years, one is eligible to convert to Hong Kong permanent resident status, but does not apply for a return permit;

No impact, no need to cancel the mainland household registration.

③ After holding a Hong Kong resident identity card for 7 years, convert to Hong Kong permanent resident status and apply for a return permit;
It affects the application; one must first cancel the existing mainland household registration to apply for a return permit.

2. Under what circumstances must a return permit be processed?
The return permit is actually the colloquial term for the permit for Hong Kong and Macau residents to travel to the mainland.

①Wants to register for the Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan Overseas Chinese Student Joint Examination;
②Wants to take the Hong Kong DSE and only use it to apply for mainland universities; (Overseas and Hong Kong universities do not require permanent residency to apply);
③Wants to enroll in a purely foreign international school in the mainland;

Note:Parents and children can apply for the return permit separately; even if the child cancels the mainland household registration and obtains the return permit, the parents can still retain their original mainland household registration.

In addition, even if the mainland household registration is canceled, if one wishes to give up Hong Kong residency in the future, there is still a chance to reapply for mainland household registration.

3. What should I do if the conversion to Hong Kong permanent residency fails?
The conversion to permanent residency is not limited to one opportunity; one will not lose Hong Kong status due to the first failure in converting to permanent residency. You can wait for a suitable time later to resubmit the application for permanent residency. Moreover, the application for permanent residency does not have to be submitted exactly after 7 years; 7 years is just the minimum duration.

If the applicant wants to submit the application for conversion to permanent residency in the 8th, 9th year, or later, it is fine as long as the renewal is maintained. Also, the main applicant and the dependents do not need to convert to permanent residency simultaneously, which means, as we just mentioned, parents and children can apply separately.

For example, if a child converts to permanent residency first to participate in the Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan Joint Examination, the parents do not have to convert. Alternatively, if the main applicant finds it inconvenient to convert to permanent residency due to work in the mainland or wants to retain the mainland household registration, the spouse can convert to permanent residency first.