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Connor Mycroft

Willa Wu

Another 29,000 Hong Kong permanent residents with foreign passports have applied in the past two months for an Immigration Department document needed to get a new five-year travel permit to enter mainland China.
The department said on Sunday that it had received more than 61,000 applications from permanent residents who wanted a five-year multi-entry travel permit to the mainland as of September 30.
The figure was nearly double the 32,000 applications the department had received in July, the month applications opened.
“Since the launch on July 10, the permit has been very popular among non-Chinese residents in the city,” Director of Immigration Benson Kwok Joon-fung told a radio programme.
Several documents are needed to obtain the permit through China Travel Service (Hong Kong) including a “Notice of Application for Access to Information” from the department.
The department earlier said it had deployed additional staff to work overtime to help ensure it could issue residents with the notice within 10 days.
Kwok said staff initially often worked overtime and during weekends because of the “large volume” of applications.
The new permit allows non-Chinese nationals with permanent residency in Hong Kong and Macau to enter the mainland multiple times for purposes such as visiting relatives, tourism, business, seminars and exchanges, for up to 90 days each stay.
They can also enjoy self-service clearance at control checkpoints once they have their fingerprints taken at ports of entry.
Before the permit’s introduction, most of the city’s 270,000 adult permanent residents with foreign passports had to apply for separate visas to visit the mainland.
Singapore Chamber of Commerce vice-chairman Basil Hwang was among the first permit holders to cross into the mainland in August. He said he had since used the permit a handful of times for day trips into Shenzhen.
The first time he crossed into the mainland with the permit he had to undergo a 15-minute registration process, but subsequent trips had been “very smooth”, he said.
“Once you get to the gate, it’s pretty much the same as going in and out of the Hong Kong automated immigration gates,” he said.
But Hwang said that while most of the people he knew were interested in obtaining the permit, some felt the time for it to be issued was quite long.
CTS Hong Kong chairman Perry Yiu Pak-leung had previously said the permit would be issued within 20 working days after the application was accepted, but Hwang told the Post he knew some people who had waited “much longer” than that.
He also said an official “frequently asked questions” page on the permit would be helpful, including what to do on first-time use.
There had also been interest among international business chambers to lobby the government to allow non-permanent residents to qualify for the permit, Hwang added.
“This would be an attractive benefit to persons considering moving to Hong Kong for work and could help attract international talent to Hong Kong,” Hwang said.
Kwok, meanwhile, told the radio show that by the end of September, the city’s Top Talent Pass Scheme had received 100,000 applications, with 81,000 approved.
A total of 240,000 applications had been approved under various talent schemes, allowing more than 300,000 applicants and their families to come to Hong Kong, he added.


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Hong Kong economy

61,000 residents apply for Hong Kong document needed for 5-year mainland China travel permit

The permit allows for self-service clearance at border control checkpoints. Photo: Eugene Lee

Hong Kong permanent residents book up service centre to get new mainland travel permit

The new permit will allow non-Chinese permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau to visit the mainland for short-term investment, family trips, tourism, business, seminars and exchanges multiple times for a period of up to five years. Photo: Jelly Tse

A sample image of the new travel permit for Hong Kong permanent residents with foreign passports. Photo: Handout

All you need to know: mainland China travel permit for Hong Kong permanent residents

Non-Chinese nationals with permanent residency in Hong Kong can apply for five-year travel permits to enter the mainland from July 10. Photo: Exit and Entry Administration

Travellers at Luohu port in Shenzhen. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

A view of Ma Tso Lung and Shenzhen. Photo: May Tse

How Hong Kong permanent residents can apply for new mainland China multi-entry visas

Travellers cross the border to Shenzhen via the Lo Wu Checkpoint. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Applicants can submit in-person applications at service centres in Central, Kowloon Bay, Kwai Chung, Sha Tin, Tuen Mun and Mong Kok. Photo: Jelly Tse

A sample photo of the mainland travel permit for Hong Kong and Macau residents. Photo: Handout

News

Hong Kong

Director of Immigration Benson Kwok says mainland travel permit ‘very popular among non-Chinese residents’ in Hong Kong


Director of Immigration Benson Kwok says mainland travel permit ‘very popular among non-Chinese residents’ in Hong Kong.
