The majority are issued to citizens of the People's Republic of China who have migrated to Hong Kong on a One-way Permit, have lost their mainland hukou thus are unable to obtain a PRC passport, but have not resided in Hong Kong for the 7 years required to be eligible for a HKSAR passport.

[3] The Document of Identity can be issued to the following categories of individuals who are connected with Hong Kong and who are unable to obtain a national passport or travel document from any other country: The identification page appears on a polycarbonate insert between the front cover and the first page.

Few foreign countries and dependent territories which offer visa-free access to Hong Kong SAR passport holders confer the same privilege to holders of the Hong Kong SAR Document of Identity.

Since some holders of the Hong Kong SAR Document of Identity are not Chinese citizens (though the majority are new immigrants from other parts of China to Hong Kong and have been unable to obtain an ordinary Chinese passport), they are not entitled to the consular protection offered by the People's Republic of China government while overseas.

However, Chinese foreign missions are able to assist should a Document of Identity become lost or stolen whilst abroad.