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Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mrs Regina Ip, in the Legislative Council today (July 10):

Question:

Regarding the Certificate of Absence of Marriage Record issued by the Immigration Department, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the number of applications for the Certificate received and the number of Certificates issued in each of the past three years;

(b) whether it has compiled statistics on the sex and age distribution of the applicants in the past three years; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(c) whether it has analyzed the trends in the number of applications for the Certificate and in the demographic characteristics of the applicants over the years; if it has, of the outcome, and whether it has, in formulating various social policies, made reference to the outcome of the analysis; if it has not made such an analysis, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) The number of applications for the Certificate of Absence of Marriage Record received and the number of Certificates issued by the Immigration Department between 1999 and 2001 are set out in Table I. About 80 per cent of the Certificates issued are for the purpose of marriage application outside Hong Kong.

(b) The Census and Statistics Department compiles on a regular basis statistical analyses on the applicants issued with the Certificate for the purpose of marriage application outside Hong Kong. These analyses are conducive to the study of the trend of Hong Kong people getting married outside Hong Kong, particularly in the Mainland. Table II sets out the number of applicants issued with the Certificate for the purpose of marriage application outside Hong Kong between 1999 and 2001 by age group and sex.

(c) In each of the past three years, approximately 15 000 to 16 000 applicants were issued with the Certificate for the purpose of marriage application outside Hong Kong. There have not been any significant changes to the demographic characteristics of the successful applicants over the past three years. Of the successful applicants, about 90 per cent intended to get married in the Mainland. Over 80 per cent were male applicants and about 60 per cent were aged between 25 and 39.

The Administration will take into account the analyses in formulating social policies. For instance, the Housing Department and the Social Welfare Department take account of the statistics and analyses provided by the Census and Statistics Department when they devise new housing supply programmes and social welfare measures.

End/Wednesday, July 10, 2002

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