Hong Kong motorists eager to drive their private cars across the border into Guangdong have one more chance this week. At 10 a.m. on Monday, March 9, the Transport Department will activate the 74th round of the computer-ballot registration for the Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles scheme. The online window will remain open until 11 :59 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, and successful registrants will be announced on March 13. Introduced in mid-2023, the scheme allows eligible Hong Kong residents to take left-hand-drive cars across the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge and use designated roads in Guangdong without first obtaining a mainland licence plate. Demand has consistently outstripped the 2,000 weekly quota, so the authorities allocate slots via a computer ballot. More than 140,000 applications have already been processed in the first 73 rounds, according to official figures.
![Hong Kong opens 74th ballot for Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles scheme]()
Whether you’re prepping your first application or refining repeat submissions, VisaHQ’s Hong Kong office (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) can walk you through every supporting document—from China visa arrangements to insurance riders—so the Northbound Travel paperwork is complete before you reach the bridge.
For business travellers and cross-border commuters the initiative is a game-changer. Driving straight into the Greater Bay Area removes the need to transfer to shuttle buses or cross-border hire cars, trimming door-to-door journey times by up to two hours for factories in Zhongshan or tech parks in Shenzhen. SMEs say the arrangement has reduced logistics costs for samples and sensitive equipment, while professional services firms praise the flexibility it gives staff who need to visit multiple mainland cities on the same day. Practicalities remain: Hong Kong insurance policies must explicitly cover mainland travel, drivers need a valid PRC driving permit, and electronic toll payment tags have to be installed. Compliance checks by both Hong Kong Immigration and Guangdong’s Exit-Entry Administration remain stringent—vehicles may be turned back if paperwork is incomplete. However, industry groups report a steady learning curve and expect application volumes to remain high through 2026 as more companies embed Greater Bay Area shuttling into their mobility playbooks.
Whether you’re prepping your first application or refining repeat submissions, VisaHQ’s Hong Kong office (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) can walk you through every supporting document—from China visa arrangements to insurance riders—so the Northbound Travel paperwork is complete before you reach the bridge.
For business travellers and cross-border commuters the initiative is a game-changer. Driving straight into the Greater Bay Area removes the need to transfer to shuttle buses or cross-border hire cars, trimming door-to-door journey times by up to two hours for factories in Zhongshan or tech parks in Shenzhen. SMEs say the arrangement has reduced logistics costs for samples and sensitive equipment, while professional services firms praise the flexibility it gives staff who need to visit multiple mainland cities on the same day. Practicalities remain: Hong Kong insurance policies must explicitly cover mainland travel, drivers need a valid PRC driving permit, and electronic toll payment tags have to be installed. Compliance checks by both Hong Kong Immigration and Guangdong’s Exit-Entry Administration remain stringent—vehicles may be turned back if paperwork is incomplete. However, industry groups report a steady learning curve and expect application volumes to remain high through 2026 as more companies embed Greater Bay Area shuttling into their mobility playbooks.
