16 August 2021
A female Mainlander was charged at the Sha Tin Magistrates' Courts with one count of making false representation to an Immigration Department (ImmD) staff member, and was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment on August 12.
The 52-year-old defendant arrived in Hong Kong as a visitor. During her stay, the defendant submitted an application for extension of stay to the ImmD, and claimed her reason for extension was to visit her husband in Hong Kong. However, when processing the application, the ImmD found that their marriage had in fact been dissolved prior to the extension application.
In the course of the investigation, the defendant admitted under caution that in order to have her extension application approved, she declared upon the extension application to ImmD staff that she needed to visit her husband in Hong Kong, even though she clearly knew that she had divorced her husband. The defendant was subsequently charged with the offence of making false representation to Immigration staff for the reason of extension. The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment by the Sha Tin Magistrates' Court on August 12.
"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," an ImmD spokesman said.