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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Dr Hon Margaret Ng in the Legislative Council today (December 7):
Question:
Regarding application for the right of abode in the Hong Kong SAR (ROA), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of Chinese and non-Chinese persons applying for ROA, as well as the numbers of those who had been granted ROA in each of the years between 2009 and October 2011; and
(2) for those non-Hong Kong residents who are eligible to apply to the Immigration Department for ROA after they have ordinarily resided for a continuous period of seven years under the existing system, of the channels through which they obtained approval to enter Hong Kong?
Reply:
President,
(1) According to the Immigration Ordinance, Hong Kong permanent residents enjoy the right of abode in Hong Kong. The number of applications for verification of eligibility for permanent identity cards received by the Immigration Department and those approved in each of the years between 2009 and October 2011 are tabulated below:
Year Persons of Persons not of
---- Chinese Chinese
Nationality Nationality
----------- -----------
2009 46,901 10,975
(34,128) (8,620)
2010 54,003 10,466
(46,459) (8,434)
2011 41,241 11,626
(up to (30,467) (8,875)
October)
(figures in bracket represent number of approval)
(2) Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the Immigration Ordinance, a permanent resident of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is:
(a) a Chinese citizen born in Hong Kong before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
(b) a Chinese citizen who has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
(c) a person of Chinese nationality born outside Hong Kong before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to a parent who, at the time of birth of that person, was a Chinese citizen falling within category (a) or (b);
(d) a person not of Chinese nationality who has entered Hong Kong with a valid travel document, has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years and has taken Hong Kong as his place of permanent residence before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
(e) a person under 21 years of age born in Hong Kong to a parent who is a permanent resident of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in category (d) before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region if at the time of his birth or at any later time before he attains 21 years of age, one of his parents has the right of abode in Hong Kong;
(f) a person other than those residents in categories (a) to (e), who, before the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, had the right of abode in Hong Kong only.
Any person claiming to be a Hong Kong permanent resident under paragraph 2(b) or (d) of the aforementioned provision may submit, in accordance with established procedures, application for verification of eligibility for permanent identity card to the Immigration Department, if he meets the requirement of ˇ§having ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven yearsˇ¨ under the law and other relevant provisions of the ordinance, irrespective of the channels through which they obtained approval to enter Hong Kong.
Ends/Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Issued at HKT 16:26
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