In a late-evening press release, Hong Kong’s Immigration Department (ImmD) activated an in-app enrolment function that lets eligible residents sign up for the new collaborative inspection e-channel at Huanggang Port without visiting a service counter. The feature appears in version 3.2 of the “HK e-Channel” app and captures facial images and fingerprint templates that are encrypted and shared with Shenzhen authorities under a cross-border data-exchange protocol. ImmD says Category A users—Hong Kong permanent residents holding a Home Return Permit—can complete the process in under three minutes by scanning both sides of their ID card and permit and taking a live “liveness-verified” selfie. Non-permanent residents and foreign passport holders with Mainland visas must still enrol in person for now. Travellers can also opt in to the “joint one-stop vehicle lane,” which allows private-car drivers to complete health, customs and immigration inspections simultaneously. The move is part of a wider push toward “contactless clearance” first piloted at the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge in 2024. Officials say the smartphone rollout will ease congestion at immigration halls during the initial surge of users when Huanggang Port reopens next week. The department handled 7.44 million Golden Week movements during 1–7 October 2026, and expects numbers to remain elevated as cross-border leisure and business travel rebounds. Corporate mobility managers should circulate the step-by-step enrolment guide and remind staff to update the app before travelling. Because the joint system relies on both Hong Kong and Mainland biometrics, employees who recently renewed their Home Return Permits will need to re-register. Firms may also need to review internal privacy notices, as biometric data will reside outside Hong Kong’s legal jurisdiction once synchronised with Shenzhen servers. For expatriates who do not hold Home Return Permits, enrolment desks will open inside the West Kowloon high-speed rail terminus and at Shenzhen’s Futian Port later this week. ImmD says it hopes to extend mobile enrolment to selected non-resident categories by early 2027, subject to bilateral agreement.
