American Citizens Services Newsletter
ACS Newsletter (November 2007)
U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong and Macau
Welcome to the November newsletter! Here are this month's topics:
New Topics:
Continuing Topics of Interest:
Upcoming Holidays and Other Closures
The Consulate General will be closed on the following holidays:
November 22 | | Thanksgiving Day |
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December 25 | | Christmas Day |
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December 26 | | First weekday after Christmas |
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January 1 | | New Year's Day |
Macau Day - December 12, 2007
On Wednesday, December 12, 2007 our staff will travel to Macau to provide limited services for American Citizens. Services to be offered during this visit include notarials (US$30/HKD240 for each signature of consular officer), passport processing (US$82/HKD656, US$67/HKD536, or US$97/HKD776 depending on age and type), and birth registration (US$65/HKD520 for each child).
Please note that due to recent changes in U.S. passport processing requirements, all requests for additional passport pages must be made at the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong. We are no longer able to offer this service in Macau. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Services will be available from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. at the Academy of Music, located at Rua de Santa Clara, No. 19, 2/F., adjacent to City Hall and near Catholic Social Services, Rua de Santa Clara 13, Macau. Clients who are physically challenged and/or require special arrangements to access this location may call 2841-2211, 2841-2323 or 2841-2225 in advance to facilitate access.
To enable us to best assist you in Macau-
- Please check our website (http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov) for information on what specific identification, forms and supporting documents are required for each service.
- Please present your passport for all services.
- Please bring the original and one photocopy of each piece of identification and/or supporting document (such as passports, birth certificates, marriage and divorce certificates, Macau ID cards, etc.).
- Please have all relevant form(s) completed before requesting any passport services. Download the forms from our web site.
- Please bring exact cash (US or HK dollars) for any fee services you require. Patacas will not be accepted.
If you need a service not listed above, please contact us in advance at 2841-2211, 2841-2323, or 2841-2225. We may be able to bring with us what you need for that service.
Register for the Foreign Service Officer Test
The Foreign Service (FS) Officer exam is scheduled for Hong Kong at the Consulate on the following dates:
Saturday December 1st
Sunday December 2nd
Saturday December 8th
Applicants can register for the morning (9-12:30) or afternoon (1:30-5:00) test sessions by going online at: www.careers.state.gov
Registration must be completed by November 25th in order to take the test in December. Specific test dates for 2008 for Hong Kong have not yet been identified. This will be the first time that the FS exam will be administered online.
Please share this information with any US Citizens who you think may be interested in becoming Foreign Service Officers. The FS test is being administered at many overseas and domestic locations during the first week of December so interested persons can take it at whatever location is best for them.
For more information on careers in the Foreign Service, please visit http://careers.state.gov
VOTING INFORMATION FOR THE 2008 PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTIONS
This is a reminder that in just a couple of months we will be entering the U.S. presidential and state primary season. Five primaries are currently slated for January, another 20 are scheduled for February, and the rest take place from early March through early October. Registration for the first primary (the District of Columbia) closes December 10, 2007. We encourage you to act now so that your opinion is heard – not only in the November 2008 presidential and general elections, but also in the presidential primary and state primary elections! The official U.S. Government website for overseas absentee voting assistance is the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) website www.fvap.gov.
Generally, all U.S. citizens 18 years or older who are or will be residing outside the United States during an election period are eligible to vote absentee in any election for Federal office. This includes primary, run-off, and special elections that occur throughout the year, as well as the general election in November 2008. Some states allow overseas voters to vote in elections for state and local offices, and for state and local referendums.
Voting eligibility and residency requirements are determined by the various U.S. states, and are available on-line at http://fvap.gov/pubs/vag.html. Your legal state of residence for voting purposes is the state where you last resided immediately prior to departure from the United States. Voting rights extend to overseas citizens even though they may no longer own property or have other ties to their last state of residence, and even if their intent to return to that state may be uncertain. For those who have never resided in the U.S., sixteen states, to date, allow eligible U.S. citizens to register where a parent would be eligible to vote.
To register to vote and/or apply for an absentee ballot, you can use the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). The on-line version, the OFPCA, is accepted by all states and territories except American Samoa and Guam. Voters from American Samoa and Guam must use the standard form of the FPCA, available at the Consulate General or through many American civic groups. The on-line OFPCA form must be completed legibly, printed, signed, dated, and mailed to your local election officials. Your state may allow faxing to speed the process, but you will still need to send in the original by mail. Use an envelope and affix proper postage. The official U.S. Government website for overseas absentee voting assistance, www.fvap.gov, has a wealth of information about absentee voting, including the state-specific instructions for completing the FPCA form, links to state and local officials, and a downloadable emergency ballot for use by those who register in time but fail to receive an official ballot.
As a general rule, you should try to send in the FPCA so that it reaches your local election officials at least forty-five days before the first election in which you are eligible to vote --- ample time for them to process the request and send you a blank ballot. If applying for both registration and an absentee ballot, you may want to mail the FPCA earlier. One FPCA will qualify you to receive all ballots for Federal offices for the next two regular Federal elections (through 2010). However, we recommend that you submit a new FPCA in January of every year, and whenever you move, to ensure that your most recent mailing and e-mail addresses are on file with your local election officials.
Under normal circumstances, most states and territories begin sending ballots to overseas citizens 30-45 days before an election. However, if you haven’t received your ballot within three weeks of your state’s ballot receipt deadline, and you are required to return your voted ballot by mail, you should download, complete, sign, date, and send in a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB), available at http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefwab.html. Make sure it is witnessed if required by your state. If you subsequently receive your regular absentee ballot, execute it and return it regardless of when you receive it. Court decisions sometimes require late counting of ballots voted by Election Day, but received by local election officials for a specified period of time following Election Day.
Be an Educated Voter
Non-partisan information about candidates, their voting records, and their positions on issues is widely available and easy to obtain via the Internet. Use the links appearing on the FVAP website at http://www.fvap.gov/links/otherlinks.html, read your hometown newspaper on-line, or search the Internet to locate articles and information.
The Voting Assistance Officer at the Consulate General is also always available to answer questions about absentee voting. To contact the Voting Assistance Officer, send an e-mail to acshk@state.gov.
Notarized Parental Consent for Passport Services for Minors Under 14
Effective July 2, 2001, U.S. law requires both parents' consent to passport services applications for minors under 14. This consent is normally established by both parents signing the application in front of a U.S. Consular officer. Note that both parents must prove their parentage and custodial status when granting their consent every time a U.S. citizen child under age 14 applies for passport services.
Parentage status may be established with an original or certified copy of the child's birth certificate listing both parents' full names. Custodial status may be proven by an original or certified copy of a court order.
U.S. citizens under age 14 applying for passports must appear in person at American Citizen Services. This requirement does not apply to requests for adding visa pages or other amendments to current U.S. passports.
When only one parent is available to execute the application, that parent must provide, under penalty of perjury, documentary evidence demonstrating that he or she has sole legal custody of the child or has the written consent of the other parent to the passport issuance.
Effective November 1, 2004, written consent must be notarized and provide unequivocal consent to passport issuance. We can accept faxed copies of this consent statement, but the notary seal must be visible in the faxed copy. The consent letter/form must be notarized within the previous six months.
Check Your Passport's Validity
Please carefully review the validity of your current U.S. passport.
Many governments require US travelers to have at least 6 months validity left in their passports for entry into their countries.
Regular passports are received within 10 calendar days after the US Consulate receives the application. More information can be found at http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/acs_passports.html
Need more passport pages?
If your full-validity U.S. passport has not expired yet, but has no blank pages left for visas, we can add additional pages for you free of charge. Barring any unusual circumstances, we can usually add pages to your passport in about 45 minutes, while you wait. You need to make an appointment for this service. In some cases, you can have a courier assist you in this process. Learn more at http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/acs_supplement.html
Online Appointment System for All American Citizens Services
Online appointments are required for all services provided by the American Citizens Services Unit at the U.S. Consulate General Hong. Book your appointment at http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov
Internet-Based Registration System
U.S. citizens around the world who travel or reside abroad can record foreign trip and residence information at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/. The Department of State invites US Citizens to register themselves and their families. The registration information is used to communicate with US citizens and assist them in case of an emergency. If citizens are already registered with this consulate, the Department asks that they please re-register on line to update their records.
The registration site provides up-to-date travel information customized to each citizen's unique travel agenda and itinerary. The data citizens provide is secured behind Department of State firewalls, accessed only by cleared personnel in Embassies, Consulates, and the Department of State, and releasable only with the US Citizen's permission under the provisions of the Privacy Act.
Subscribing/Unsubscribing
Anyone who wishes to sign up to receive this monthly ACS email newsletter and the travel advice we provide can do so simply by going to our web page at and submit their email address in the fill-in box towards the bottom of the page. You can also unsubscribe through the web page.
New subscribers will be sent the last few messages we have sent out in a digest form to help them catch up. Back issues are on the web at http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/acs_newsletter.html.
This newsletter is published by the American Citizens Services Unit, U.S. Consulate General, Hong Kong, tel: 2841-2211, 2841-2323, 2841-2225; fax: 2845-4845; e-mail: acshk@state.gov; website: http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov; All services by online appointment only.
Last modified: November 16, 2007
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