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The Government announced on April 25, 2012, special arrangements to assist Mainland expectant mothers whose husbands are Hong Kong residents to give birth in Hong Kong. A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau today (June 8) further announced that while Mainland expectant mothers whose husbands are Hong Kong permanent residents can give birth in local private hospitals this year, with effect from today, Mainland pregnant women whose husbands are Hong Kong residents who came to Hong Kong on the Permit for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao (One-way Permit) can also make delivery bookings at local private hospitals according to the special arrangements.
Each couple will be required to submit the following documents to private hospitals to verify their identities when making the bookings:
* A Hong Kong certificate of marriage, or a certificate of marriage notarised by a notary public office in the Mainland;
* The husband's Hong Kong identity card;
* The husband's Permit for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao; and
* An oath taken by the Hong Kong resident husband to confirm the authenticity of the marriage certificate provided and/or their marriage relationship.
Each couple will also be required to sign a consent form authorising the authority to conduct checks with the relevant Hong Kong and Mainland departments on their marriage certificate, identity and other documents.
According to the arrangements, the private hospitals will issue Confirmation Certificates on Delivery Booking (Confirmation Certificates) based on the documents submitted by the couples concerned and the availability of obstetric services. The Department of Health will closely monitor and conduct checks and refer suspect cases to law enforcement agencies for follow-up action.
In view that some Mainland pregnant women currently in Hong Kong may expect to give birth very soon and the couples concerned might not be able to submit their notarised Mainland marriage certificates to the private hospitals in time, these pregnant women whose husbands are Hong Kong residents who came to Hong Kong on One-way Permits may be accepted for bookings if they expect to give birth before July 15. The couples concerned are required to first take the oath, present the husband's Hong Kong identity card, One-way Permit and the signed consent form, and obtain the Confirmation Certificate. Their certificate of marriage notarised by a notary public office in the Mainland should be submitted as soon as possible after booking.
The special arrangements will not affect the current entry control on non-local pregnant women. To protect the safety of expectant mothers and their babies, the Government does not encourage or allow non-local women who are at an advanced stage of pregnancy and without prior booking of obstetric service and adequate antenatal checkups to give birth in Hong Kong. In other words, non-local pregnant women who are pregnant for 28 weeks or more have to produce the Confirmation Certificate issued by Hong Kong hospitals for checking by immigration officers when they enter Hong Kong. Those who cannot produce this certificate may be refused entry.
Ends/Friday, June 8, 2012
Issued at HKT 11:46
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