The government said the sequence of registering for the Health Code has nothing to do with the quotas for boundary crossings, and there is no hurry to apply for it.

Citizens can register an account on the designated website (www.healthcode.gov.hk). They must use their real name and register other personal information such as identity card number and date of issue, phone number, residential address, and address proof documents.

Upon successful registration, users can use the newly added function of the LeaveHomeSafe (version 3.0) to upload visit records of the past 31 days to the Health Code system. Updating the mobile app will not affect previous visit records saved to the app that are stored in the users' mobile phones. These records will also be uploaded to the Health Code system.

The Health Code will come in three colors – red, amber, and green, and the standard to determine the color of the code aligns with that of the "YueKang Code" issued by Guangdong Province.

Confirmed cases or probable cases, close contacts, and their household contacts of recovered Covid-19 patients who were discharged from the hospital less than 14 days ago, persons who are currently under compulsory quarantine, and persons who have shown symptoms in the past 14 days will be issued the Red code.

Persons who have visited or resided in high-risk areas in the past 21 days, or arrived in Hong Kong less than 21 days prior, including persons who have completed compulsory quarantine or persons exempted from the mandatory quarantine requirement when they enter Hong Kong, will be issued the Amber code.

Yet those who entered Hong Kong from the Mainland or Macao under the "Return2hk" or "Come2hk" Schemes will be exempted from being given the Amber code.

The rest will be issued the Green code. All Hong Kong Health Codes will be valid up to 11.59pm on the day of application.

When registering the account, citizens living in public rental housing estates under the Housing Authority need not submit the address proof as the system will verify the information according to the public housing resident database.

Priority will be given to those who can upload the address proof and those living in the public rental housing estates. If citizens fail to provide the address proof or the address proof provided cannot be verified by the system, they will have to wait for a confirmation letter containing a personal identification number (PIN) for account activation.

Those who do not hold a Hong Kong identity card have to bring the letter and identity document for verification at designated post offices. They will receive a PIN through SMS for account activation after verification.