Hong Kong denies entry to 12,452 visitors in first 5 months of 2025
Immigration director says figure only represents about 0.062 per cent of nearly 20 million inbound travellers recorded over same period

Hong Kong denied entry to more than 12,000 visitors in the first five months of 2025, the immigration chief said on Sunday, stressing that the effort signalled his department’s firm stance on border control.
Director of Immigration Benson Kwok Joon-fung also said that the 12,452 visitors who were not allowed into Hong Kong represented about 0.062 per cent of the nearly 20 million inbound travellers recorded over the same period.
“There are a few reasons – for example, we might suspect their purpose for coming to Hong Kong is questionable, such as potentially coming to work illegally,” he told a radio programme.
In such cases, allowing them to enter the city risked affecting job opportunities for residents, he added.
“There are also some who do not hold proper travel documents, for instance, not having applied for a visa to come to Hong Kong … And then there are also cases where we suspect the travel documents are forged.”
Kwok also said his staff “occasionally” faced resistance from visitors who were denied entry, but stressed that his officers were trained to handle such situations.