Through the Internet or By Telephone
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The Immigration Department reminds on 17 December 2001 that it will, on 20 December 2001, launch a booking system for making appointment through the internet or by telephone for giving of marriage notice.
The spokesman said, "Under the Marriage Ordinance (Cap. 181), a marriage may take place if a notice of marriage has been given at least 15 days but not more than three months before the wedding. As such, a notice of marriage will be accepted, at the earliest, 3 months before the date of the intended marriage. To remove the inconvenience to queue up outside the marriage registries long before the three-month notice-giving period for an appointment to give notice on an auspicious day, a new arrangement will be introduced to allow the marrying parties to make use of the internet or the telephone booking system to make an appointment for giving of marriage notice within 14 days prior to the three-month notice-giving period."
"The booking service does not include the choice of a time slot on the intended date of marriage. On the scheduled date and time when the marrying parties attend the relevant registry/office to give marriage notice, they will be invited to choose their desired time slot in accordance with the sequence order allocated by the booking system."
"The booking service, provided free of charge, is applicable to those whose marriage is to take place on or after 3 April 2002 at a marriage registry and who would like to make an appointment within 14 days prior to the commencement of the three-month notice-giving period. The booking service is not applicable to those who will get married in the licensed places of public worship, at the mobile registry, those who will give their marriage notice from overseas and those who do not require an advance booking appointment."
"Only one appointment is allowed for each marrying couple. Acknowledgement service with the appointment details by local fax is provided. The public can access the booking service through the internet [the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme (ESD)] or telephone [the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS)]."
"The appointment is allocated in accordance with the marriage date selected and on a first-come-first-served basis determined by the computer. Both the ESD and the IVRS operate round-the-clock. Service will however be temporarily suspended daily between 7:45 a.m. to 7:59 a.m. for updating the range of selectable dates for marriage and the booking situation. Service will resume at 8:00 a.m.," he elaborated.
"At the beginning of the first two weeks of the launching period, a 'progressive approach' will be adopted. This arrangement is to gradually increase the number of days available for selection till the end of the two-week period."
The spokesman reiterated, "after the launching of the new service, the marrying parties should stop queuing up outside the marriage registry/office to give marriage notice. The advance booking system will not cater for walk-in applicants. However, upon commencement of the three-month notice-giving period, appointments for solemnization of marriage which have not been used up by the advance booking will be allocated to the walk-in applicants at the relevant marriage registry/office."
"To avoid wastage of allocated appointments, the marrying parties are required to re-confirm their booking on or before the following working day after the appointment is made (Saturday is not considered as a working day for this purpose). Failure to re-confirm a booking within the time-frame allowed will result in the cancellation of the appointment made. The system also provides other services such as handling of the change of the date of marriage/marriage registry, cancellation of an appointment made, enquiries of the earliest booking date and checking of the capacities and booking situation of any of the marriage registries.
The web site of the ESD is http://marriage.esd.gov.hk. The public can also access the booking service via the 100 ESD public information kiosks installed at the MTR, KCR stations and other convenient locations. The telephone number of the IVRS booking service is 3102 3883.
Enquiries can be made to the Immigration Department Information Office by telephone 2824 6111 or fax 2877 7711 or through E-mail : enquiry@immd.gov.hk or visit the Immigration Department homepage : http://www.info.gov.hk/immd/.
End/Monday, December 17, 2001
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