Publications and Press Releases

25 Aug 2014

A Mainland woman was charged with one count of making false representation to an immigration officer and one count of making a false statutory declaration at Sha Tin Magistrates' Courts and was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and fined $1,000 on August 23.

The 23-year-old defendant arrived in Hong Kong as a visitor and went to an Accident and Emergency Department on August 6 for delivery without prior booking. Investigation revealed that the defendant was asked by an immigration staff member about her pregnancy status upon arrival clearance at Hong Kong International Airport and she claimed she was not pregnant. Moreover, when registering the birth of her newly born daughter at the birth registry on August 21, the defendant made a false statutory declaration to the registration officer that she had come to Hong Kong to take care of her elder Hong Kong-born daughter and had no intention to give birth in Hong Kong.  

During the investigation, the defendant admitted under caution that in fact she intended to give birth in Hong Kong when she came to Hong Kong. The defendant was subsequently charged with one count of making false representation and one count of making a false statutory declaration on her pregnancy status. The defendant pleaded guilty to the charges at Sha Tin Magistrates' Courts. She was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and fined $1,000.

"Under the laws of Hong Kong, any person who makes false representation to an immigration officer commits an offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, subject to the maximum penalty of a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years. Moreover, any person who knowingly and wilfully makes a false statutory declaration shall be liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to imprisonment for up to two years and a fine," an Immigration Department spokesman emphasised.