corruption scandal in Mainland China, used a HKSAR passport to enter Canada as a tourist in 1999. His HKSAR passport and Hong Kong permanent residency were revoked by the Hong Kong Government in 2002 on the grounds that he had obtained the residency by dishonest means. "Place of birth" in HKSAR passports On 16 April 2008, the Court of First Instance of the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region decided in open court to publicize the case of Aziz Akbar Butt v Director of Immigration (HCAL32-2007). Aziz Akbar Butt, born in Pakistan and a Hong Kong permanent resident who became a naturalised Chinese citizen of Hong Kong on 8 January 2007, argued that for HKSAR passport holders such as himself born outside the Mainland China, Hong Kong or Macao, it was not necessary for the Director of Immigration to label their "place of birth" as stated in the HKSAR passport to be the country/state of birth specifically, with the city or province of birth sufficing. He further claimed to have problems travelling to several countries because his HKSAR passport stated "Pakistan" (i.e. his country of birth) instead of "Karachi" or "Sindh" (i.e. his specific place of birth within Pakistan) as his "place of birth". The Director of Immigration asserted that it was in accordance with HKSAR law and ICAO standards that one's "country of birth" should be specified for holders of the HKSAR passport born outside the Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao. The Court of First Instance of the High Court decided that the Director of Immigration was wrong in using a policy to insert the country of birth as the "place of birth" in the applicant's passport in this instance, given a passport's nature as a document ensuring freedom of travel and the lack of a specific requirement within ICAO standards for machine-readable passports to state one's country of birth specifically. As a result of this court decision, the Director of Immigration cancelled the passport previously issued to Butt, and replaced it with a new passport at no cost, with his place of birth stated as "Sindh". See also British nationality law and Hong Kong British National (Overseas) passport British Overseas Territories citizen Exit & Entry Permit Hong Kong Document of Identity for Visa Purposes Hong Kong Re-entry Permit Chinese nationality law Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents Macao Special Administrative Region passport Visa requirements