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This page and some others say things like this:

The Agreement [of 2009] provides for a mutual visa-free access to the nationals of the Russian Federation and permanent residents of the Hong Kong SAR (holders of the Hong Kong SAR passport) for a stay of up to 14 days in the area of the Hong Kong SAR and the territory of the Russian Federation respectively.

What does that mean for Hong Kong SAR passport holders who are permanently residing in another country (e.g. in North America)? Practically speaking, upon trying to enter Russia – are travellers asked to present any other documents other than Hong Kong SAR passport? I had asked a similar question from a different angle, the emphasis here is on the following – are there any other documents that are required as proof of residence in Hong Kong, besides the HKsar passport, and whether that ever becomes an issue at the border...

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All you need is the HK SAR passport.

The page is worded that way because they can't say "nationals of Hong Kong": Hong Kong is a part of China, so there are no citizens of Hong Kong, only Chinese citizens of Hong Kong. And they also can't say "nationals of China", because that would give visa-free access to everybody in China. So they say "permanent residents of Hong Kong SAR", and how do you demonstrate that you are one? By being a "holder of the Hong Kong SAR passport". Where you actually live is irrelevant.

Your question also implies that residency of Hong Kong alone is enough to get visa-free access to Russia, but this is not the case; for example, British National (Overseas) passport holders do require a visa.

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  • that makes sense; I was also wondering why the HKSAR passport I was looking at, says "nationality - chinese", but your answer explains that too ..
    – UserJoe
    Jul 11, 2014 at 22:36
  • thanks for the answer, and just curious - did you yourself, or do you know someone in a similar situation who did this - enter Russia with HKSAR passport from somewhere other than Hong Kong?
    – UserJoe
    Jul 11, 2014 at 22:45
  • Try Timatic if you don't believe me, it's how airlines check what documents you need: timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/…
    – lambshaanxy
    Jul 12, 2014 at 0:27
  • nice, thanks. Do the immigration authorities at the Russian checkpoint use something similar? My worst fear is flying for 20+ hours, only to be denied entry at the last moment ...
    – UserJoe
    Jul 12, 2014 at 0:31
  • Look, you've got the embassy site and the airline site telling you it's OK. The border can always deny you for something else (it's Russia after all...), but it's really unlikely.
    – lambshaanxy
    Jul 13, 2014 at 0:16

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