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The Immigration Department announced today (July 3) that the new Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals will be implemented with effect from July 15, 2003. The Immigration Department will start receiving applications from that date onwards. Upon the launch of the new Scheme, the existing Admission of Talents Scheme and the Admission of Mainland Professionals Scheme would be abolished.
"The objective of the Scheme is to attract Mainland talents and professionals to work in Hong Kong in order to meet local manpower needs, so as to facilitate local economic and other development and to enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness in the globalised market. Through the new arrangement, we would be able to align the conditions for admitting Mainland residents for employment with those applicable to foreign nationals as far as possible," said the spokesman for the Immigration Department.
There is no sectoral restriction or quota under the Scheme. The candidate must possess professional skills or knowledge not readily available or in shortage locally. Admitted talents and professionals must be able to contribute to the operation of the firms and sectors concerned with a view to facilitating economic development in Hong Kong. Apart from professionals in the commercial and financial fields, talents and professionals in the arts, culture and sports sectors as well as those in the culinary profession may also apply. The admission of these persons will enhance Hong Kong's status as an Asian world city. The number of talents and professionals to be admitted under the Scheme will be governed by the demand in the local human resources market. The Immigration Department would carefully consider every application in accordance with the eligibility criteria under the Scheme.
Application forms, guidance notes and information pamphlets on the Scheme will be made available to the public as from today. They can be obtained free of charge from the Immigration Department Headquarters, Immigration Branch Offices, District Offices, the Immigration Section of the Office of the Government of the HKSAR in Beijing, and the Economic and Trade Office of the Government of the HKSAR in Guangdong. Information on the Scheme and application forms can also be downloaded from the website at: http://www.immd.gov.hk/.
Employers can put their job vacancies on the Labour Department's Interactive Employment Service website (http://www.jobs.gov.hk/) so that interested Mainland talents and professionals can approach the relevant employers direct for job application. The website has been hyperlinked to the Immigration Department's homepage for easy access.
Application forms, together with all necessary supporting documents, must be submitted by the local employers (i.e. the applicants). Applications submitted by Mainlanders already staying in Hong Kong on visitor status will not be accepted. Subject to the provision of all necessary information, it normally takes 4 weeks for the Immigration Department to complete the processing. The Immigration Department will issue an employment entry permit to the employer for onward transmission to the successful candidate (i.e. the professional to be employed). The candidate needs to obtain an Exit-entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macau (EEP) with an exit endorsement from the relevant Public Security Bureau office in the Mainland and affix the entry permit onto the EEP before coming to Hong Kong to take up the employment here. If a successful candidate is currently working or studying in Hong Kong, after obtaining the employment entry permit, he/she is required to return to the Mainland to obtain an EEP and an appropriate exit endorsement before taking up employment under the Scheme.
Successful candidates will normally be granted an initial stay of 12 months upon entry. Extension of stay will be granted if the candidate continues to meet the eligibility criteria.
Under the new Scheme, the candidate's spouse and unmarried dependent children under 18 years of age may also be admitted. In this regard, the candidate must prove, to the satisfaction of the Director of Immigration, that he/she is able to accommodate and maintain his/her dependants at a reasonable standard. Entry applications from other dependants are not allowed.
"The Immigration Department will maintain close co-operation with the Mainland authorities to guard against any abuse of the Scheme. Under the laws of Hong Kong, any person who makes a false representation to an immigration officer commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum penalty of a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years," stressed the spokesman.
End/Thursday, July 3, 2003
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