Playing an Important Part in Serving the Community with Dedication
The year 2019, which marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, was a year of historical significance to our country as well as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
Over the past seven decades, our country has marched ahead steadfastly, persevering through numerous difficulties and challenges with indomitable spirit and transforming into an open, progressive, prosperous and powerful nation in steady steps, with tremendous achievements winning world acclaim. To the Immigration Department (ImmD), the year 2019 was a heartening year. I am very pleased and proud to see that we achieved satisfactory results in different areas of work during the year, which was attributable to our staff, who worked in concert with devotion and a powerful sense of mission.
In 2019, the ImmD continued to carry out the territory-wide identity card replacement exercise (Replacement Exercise) to replace in phases the existing identity cards with the next generation smart identity cards for eligible residents. The Replacement Exercise, with the theme of thoughtful and caring services, aims to provide convenience for members of the public and the communities in need. In addition to the on-going arrangement for the elderly to be accompanied by an applicant for identity card replacement, the on-site identity card replacement service and the delivery service of new identity cards for elderly persons and persons with disabilities (PwDs) residing at residential care homes were also introduced in the second quarter of 2019. The thoughtful arrangements of the Replacement Exercise and the on-site identity card replacement service were generally well-received by members of the public, and won the gold prize of the Team Award (General Service) and the silver prize of the Team Award (Specialised Service) under the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme 2019, showing that our quality service has received wide recognition from various sectors of the community.
Starting from the first quarter of 2020, the arrangement for the elderly to be accompanied by an applicant for identity card replacement has been extended to PwDs. An applicant for card replacement may bring along two PwDs, in addition to two elderly persons aged 65 or above, to replace their identity cards during the same visit. The ImmD hopes to offer more convenient services for people in need through thoughtful and caring arrangements, so as to promote social inclusion.
To cope with the increasing workload and enhance service quality, we have been making the best use of state-of-the-art technology to optimise our services through innovation. The implementation of the Next Generation Electronic Passport System in May 2019 has significantly reduced the time required for processing passport applications from 10 to 5 working days. In addition, the ImmD has provided additional means for submitting passport applications, whereby applicants may submit applications through the ImmD Mobile Application without time and location constraints. Moreover, newly-designed Travel Document Submission Kiosks have facilitated the application process by adding a self-service photo-taking function. Eligible applicants may choose to use the function free of charge. The kiosks also have an Octopus payment function, providing an alternative electronic payment option for the public.
With globalisation and the successive commissioning of a number of new land boundary control points, the flow of people between Hong Kong and the Mainland or other parts of the world has become more frequent. In recent years, the numbers of inbound and outbound passengers trips at various control points have remained at a high level, hitting over 300 million in total in 2019. In the face of such heavy passenger flow, the ImmD has continued to adopt a multi-pronged approach to enhance the clearance efficiency through various measures, which include the arrangement for mutual use of automated immigration clearance services with different countries and regions. As at 2019, a total of five countries had become our partners. It is expected that more and more countries and regions will implement such a facilitation arrangement with us. Moreover, since the introduction of the self-service departure clearance service for visitors ('Smart Departure') at the end of 2017, a total of over 10 million visitors have used the service. The Smart Departure service was given the Team Award (Specialised Service) - Meritorious Award under the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme 2019 in recognition of our efforts and accomplishment in delivering quality public services to visitors through application of technology. In addition, amid keen competition among airports worldwide, the ImmD was granted the best airport immigration service award by Skytrax, an international air transport industry specialist research agent based in the UK. It is the third time the ImmD has received this award after winning it in 2015 and 2016, showing that the professional service of our staff has gained wide recognition and acclaim from the local community and visitors around the world. As Director of Immigration, I am proud of all my colleagues who have stood fast at their posts with dedication.
Hong Kong, a cosmopolitan city, is one of the most competitive cities in the world. At a strategic geographic location as a bi-directional gateway connecting the Mainland and other Belt and Road countries, it plays a pivotal role in enhancing international and regional co-operation in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative. In this connection, the ImmD has been proactively working with the Belt and Road countries to introduce visa policies that provide greater convenience for travellers. As at 2019, a total of 167 countries and territories have granted visa-free access or visa-on-arrival to HKSAR passport holders. Uzbekistan and Iran are two of the Belt and Road countries that have granted such preferential treatment to HKSAR passport holders most recently.
Safeguarding national security and ensuring the robustness of 'one country, two systems' in Hong Kong have all along been our main tasks. In face of growing threat of extremism to various places around the world, the ImmD has, in light of terrorist threat assessments and actual circumstances, taken appropriate control measures and stepped up interception and examination of suspicious persons at various control points. In 2019, officers of the Counter-Terrorism Division of the ImmD carried out a total of over 4 000 operations at Hong Kong International Airport as well as various border and harbour control points, during which over 27 000 persons in total were intercepted for enquiries. In March 2019, the ImmD participated in the first inter-departmental counter-terrorism exercise, codenamed 'Powersky', organised by the Inter-departmental Counter Terrorism Unit. The exercise aimed to enhance co-ordination among various departments on counter-terrorism intelligence and response, and to heighten public awareness of counter-terrorism. Moreover, to tackle the problems at source, the ImmD has provided active support for the HKSAR Government's strategy review through stepping up enforcement action against the entry of illegal immigrants or doubtful visitors with higher immigration risk, and against illegal entry across the boundary and criminal syndicates involved in illegal immigrant smuggling.
The acclaim and recognition the ImmD won in various areas of work owed much to the tireless efforts of each and every colleague in discharging their duties and in serving the community with dedication and professionalism. By the time this annual report is published, I will have left the post of Director of Immigration. I feel deeply honoured and very proud that I could lead an outstanding and competent immigration service of world standard. I believe the ImmD will, under the leadership of the new Director, scale new heights and continue to contribute to the prosperity of our country as well as Hong Kong.
Director of Immigration
Tsang Kwok-wai, Erick
I.D.S.M.