Car ownership

[BenMore]

I will be visiting Hong Kong regularly - not being employed there or doing any business, so I will be entering on a visitors 180 day visa. On that basis can I own a car in Hong Kong?

I will be renting an apartment which I know is OK without being a resident.

[PDLM]

Anyone can own a car, but very few people do - the total cost of ownership is dramatically higher than using the excellent public transport. Having said that, you may have some difficulty getting insurance for it without a HKID (it shouldn't be impossible, but your situation is a little unusual).

[Skyhook]

To own a car in HK, that is legally road taxed etc, you need to have a HK drivers licence, a current third party insurance policy ( which may prove difficult to obtain depending on your employment/legal status in HK ) a proof of address and most likely these days a HK id card, over a Passport, but I could be wrong on this last detail.

[PDLM]

Can you provide evidence to support some of those assertions? I don't immediately see any legal reason why you need a HK Driver's Licence to own a car.

Many cars are owned by companies, not individuals, so that may be one way round any issues.

[BenMore]

Thanks for the quick replies. I am a self-employed writer and will be writing a book (non-political) about Hong Kong, South China, Vietnam, Cambodia and other places in thisp part of this world. SO, I will be travelling around a lot, but want to be based in Hong Kong. I've looked at the dept of transport documentation and now see that to register a car the form needs an HK ID card number rather than a passport number. So, it's probably not on after all. I'll write to the transport dept and ask them now I've got something to work with. I must say that the immigration dept were very helpful regarding living in HK as visitor - no problems there.

Thanks again for the help.

[TS888]

I'm pretty sure you can rego a car with your passport. I just did mine, and I seem to recall that option on the form. A HK driver license is definitely not needed.

I'd check with an insurance company to see if they require a HKID. Proof of insurance is required to register the car. Again, I didn't have any trouble getting insurance without a HK DL, but I have a HKID.

You'll need an address, but that should be easy.

The conspiracy paranoid in me says registering a car might result in the Immigration Dept being suspicious and questioning your visitor status. But I'm assuming info sharing between the TD and the ID, probably a stretch.

All that said, if you are living anywhere near an MTR station, a car is pretty redundant. We have one because we live in the Sai Kung boonies, and because I get free parking at work and we have space at the house. It's still exponentially more expensive than public transpo, so I try to take the bus as much as possible.

[BenMore]

Thanks TS888,

We were planning on living in Cheung Sha on Lantau, which I believe raises a whole new spectrum of permits - the car would be for getting to places like the one you live in which might not be too accessible by public transport. I am coming to the conclusion that I'll just "wing it" when we get there. The address aspect should be no problem as I've already been told by immigration that it's OK for visitors to rent property.

We'll see what happens in a month's time, so I'll report back and let the world know.

[discobay]

I've bought and registered a car without providing a HK drivers licence too.
Agree with the comment that TCO is way over the top unless you have a real need or can offset running costs against your taxable income. I worked out that the regular trips that we made with our car including the school runs we would have saved money if we had used taxis. Yes it's that expensive to own a car.

[BenMore]

It looks like the bus and taxis will suffice after all.

Thanks everyone for your input.