Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, in the Legislative Council today (July 30):
 
Question:
 
     It has been reported that the Registration of Persons - Hong Kong Office (Hong Kong Office) of the Immigration Department (ImmD), which is located on the 8th floor of the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai, is expected to relocate within 2026. Regarding the arrangements for registration of persons (ROP) services, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the usage figures and expenditures of each ROP office in the past three years;
 
(2) of the relocation details (including the timetable) of the Hong Kong Office;
 
(3) of the criteria adopted by the Government for determining the new location of the Hong Kong Office, e.g. whether it will consider facilitating members of the public to renew their Mainland Travel Permits for Hong Kong and Macao Residents concurrently, or relocating the office to the area of Wan Chai District or the Central and Western District in the vicinity of the original location; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(4) given that apart from the Hong Kong Office, the ImmD currently also operates the Hong Kong Island Travel Documents Issuing Office in the Harbour Building in Central, as well as the Births and Deaths General Register Office and the Marriage Registration and Records Office in the Queensway Government Offices respectively, and as the Queensway Government Offices have been reserved for the expansion of the High Court, whether the authorities have plans to consolidate the offices in the aforesaid three locations into one integrated office, so as to optimise the use of resources and achieve synergy; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(5) in order to facilitate members of the public to use self-service kiosks to apply for or collect documents outside office hours, whether the Hong Kong Office will set up Personal Documentation Submission Kiosks after its relocation, so as to provide automated services for the applications for identity cards and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,

     In consultation with the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, a reply to the questions raised by the Hon Chan Hak-kan is as follows:

(1) The usage statistics of each Registration of Persons (ROP) Office under the Immigration Department (ImmD) from 2023 to June 30, 2025 are tabulated below:
 

	Usage statistics of each ROP Office @
	2023	2024	2025 (January to June)
Hong Kong^	862 000	674 000	192 000
Kowloon^	639 000	622 000	193 000
Tseung Kwan O^ / Kwun Tong*	320 000	236 000	170 000
Kwun Tong (Temporary)#	79 000	276 000	165 000
Fo Tan	171 000	147 000	70 000
Tuen Mun^	287 000	262 000	51 000
Yuen Long	215 000	185 000	85 000
Total	2 573 000	2 402 000	926 000

@The usage statistics reflect the number of applications, document collections and enquiries at each office (rounded to the nearest thousand). In 2023, usage was significantly higher due to factors including resumption of normal travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland.
^The extended service hours of the four ROP Offices began on March 6, 2023 and ended on December 31, 2024.
*The ROP - Kwun Tong Office was relocated to the new headquarters in Tseung Kwan O on June 11, 2024, and renamed as the ROP - Tseung Kwan O Office.
#The ROP - Kwun Tong (Temporary) Office commenced operations on November 1, 2023.

     As operating ROP Offices is part of the regular duties of the ImmD, the ImmD does not maintain a separate breakdown of the operation expenses for each ROP Office. The salaries expenses related to ROP Offices in the past three financial years are tabulated below:
 

Year	Salaries expenses ($100 million) (Note)
2023-24	2.04
2024-25	2.16
2025-26 (April - June)	0.37

Note: Including salaries expenses of civil servants and contract staff. Apart from operating the six regular ROP Offices, given the surge in the demand for Hong Kong identity cards-related services after the pandemic, the ImmD extended operating hours of four ROP Offices from March 6, 2023 to December 31, 2024, and established the ROP - Kwun Tong (Temporary) Office on November 1, 2023 through internal redeployment of manpower, with a view to enhancing the overall handling capacity of ROP Offices. The ImmD coped with the demand for Hong Kong identity cards-related services through flexible manpower deployment and does not maintain a breakdown of salaries expenses for each ROP Office.

(2) To provide more convention and exhibition (C&E) facilities for fostering the long-term development of the Hong Kong C&E industry, the Government is taking forward the Wan Chai North Redevelopment project near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre as planned, including the redevelopment of the sites of the Wan Chai Government Offices Compound, Gloucester Road Garden and the Kong Wan Fire Station into C&E facilities, hotel and office.

     The Immigration Headquarters was relocated from the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai to Tseung Kwan O in June 2024. The ROP Office - Hong Kong Office (ROP HK Office), situated at the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai, continues to provide services to the public at its current site. To pave the way for the Wan Chai North Redevelopment project, the ImmD is currently identifying suitable office space in the area for the relocation of the ROP HK Office. The relocation timing and location would depend on the actual circumstances, including the progress of the Wan Chai North Redevelopment project, operational needs and service demand of the ROP HK Office. The ImmD will make suitable announcement once the details of the relocation plan for the ROP HK Office have been finalised.

(3) and (4) When relocating the ROP HK Office, the ImmD will consider factors such as transport accessibility, public service demands, and operational needs, etc, and ensure that the location chosen will be convenient for citizens. The ImmD will also continuously review the service arrangements and operations of its offices, and explore the feasibility of integrating offices and facilities of the ImmD currently scattered across different locations, with a view to providing more convenient and quality services to the public.

(5) To promote the development of a Smart Government, the ImmD has been leveraging technology to enhance service efficiency, including the provision of self-service options in application and collection for specific personal documentation services through various self-service kiosks set up at various offices.

     In December last year, the ImmD enhanced the functions of the Personal Documentation Submission Kiosks (PDSKs) and introduced self-application services for Hong Kong identity cards (HKICs). Eligible applicants can complete the HKIC application procedures in a self-service manner and can apply for HKICs and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports in one-go through the PDSKs. The application procedures, including identity verification, photo taking, data filling and electronic payment, can be completed at the PDSKs in a self-service manner without the need to make an appointment. For collection, the Personal Documentation Collection Kiosks (PDCKs) have integrated various functions of the existing collection kiosks. Eligible applicants can collect personal documents in one-go in a self-service manner.

     Currently, a total of 54 new self-service kiosks, including 44 PDSKs and 10 PDCKs, have been set up at the Immigration Headquarters situated at Tseung Kwan O. The new self-service kiosks have been operating smoothly since its launch and well received by the public. The ImmD will consider setting up new self-service kiosks at the relocated ROP HK Office, as well as operating beyond normal office hours to cater for the different needs of citizens, with a view to further enhancing service quality.

Ends/Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Issued at HKT 12:00

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