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The first confirmed case of COVID-19 occurred in Hong Kong. The department deployed staff to inspect hotels and guesthouses, in order to assist visitors from Hubei in Hong Kong to check into quarantine centres or leave Hong Kong.
Officers were dispatched to Japan to assist Hong Kong residents stranded on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in returning to Hong Kong.
A special operation team was set up to conduct door-to-door spot checks on persons subject to compulsory quarantine.
A temporary computer enquiry system was set up to assist the Hospital Authority in risk assessment.
A series of flexible arrangements on foreign domestic helper (FDH) visa applications were introduced.
Assisted in arranging for eight charter flights to bring back Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei Province due to the epidemic.
Immigration officers appointed as Special Constables assisted in the enforcement of the anti-epidemic regulation on prohibition on group gathering.
Strengthened the service for online submission of applications and implemented facilitation measures on visa/entry permit application.
Assisted the Department of Health (DH) in verifying the information of arriving passengers in the booking list under the Return2hk Scheme.
Temporary facilitation measures were implemented to allow eligible non-permanent residents to make visa/entry permit applications outside Hong Kong for returning to Hong Kong.
In February 2020, many Hong Kong residents stranded on board the COVID-19-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama, Japan. With the assistance from the Embassy of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Japan and the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC in the HKSAR, and in close cooperation with the Security Bureau (SB), Mr TSANG Kwok-wai, Erick, the then Director of Immigration, led 55 officers to Japan to render assistance to the Hong Kong residents stranded on the cruise ship. Three charter flights were arranged in this operation to bring a total of 193 residents back to Hong Kong. The department's Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit also dispatched additional staff to Japan in batches to provide support to over 100 Hong Kong residents remaining there for medical or quarantine reasons.
Repatriation operations in Japan (Diamond Princess cruise) and Wuhan
First batch of officers, comprising members from the Security Bureau, Department of Health and the department, on 17th February, set off for Japan to arrange the return of Hong Kong residents stranded on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
Officers sent to Japan discussed various arrangements with the local governments and prepared materials to arrange for stranded Hong Kong residents to return home as soon as possible.
Officers who stayed in Hong Kong to provide logistic support were in constant contact with the assistance seekers and their families to provide updates round the clock.
193 stranded Hong Kong residents were brought home by three chartered flights.
In March 2020, the department, working in close cooperation with the SB and the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, deployed 58 officers to assist in arranging for eight charter flights to bring back a total of 1,027 Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei Province, including those suffering from serious illnesses, candidates of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination and pregnant women. Later, the department also assisted in coordinating commercial flights to bring back Hong Kong residents stranded in various countries, including Peru, Morocco, India and Pakistan. In 2020, the department arranged for a total of 51 charter or commercial flights (including the aforementioned flights to Japan and Hubei Province) to bring back a total of 7,547 Hong Kong residents stranded outside.
The then Director of Immigration, Mr TSANG Kwok-wai, Erick, led 58 officers of the department to arrange chartered flights to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, bringing stranded Hong Kong residents home.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the department fully supported the HKSAR Government in taking various measures to control the epidemic, including suspending passenger clearance services at some of the control points in phases, imposing entry restrictions, and assisting the DH with their quarantine work by deploying frontline staff to arrival halls and vehicular clearance kiosks of control points to conduct identity screening and refer persons who attempted to leave Hong Kong while their quarantine orders were in force to relevant departments for follow-up action. In February 2020, a special operation team was set up to conduct door-to-door spot checks on persons subject to compulsory quarantine to check if they had complied with the requirement of the orders to stay in their places of residence. Over 100 officers participated in the operations, in which 6,766 persons subject to compulsory quarantine and 5,967 reported places of residence were checked.
The special operation team conducted door-to-door spot checks on persons subject to quarantine orders and their reported places of residence.
To help FDHs and their employers cope with the epidemic, the department introduced a series of flexible arrangements, including extending the validity period of contracts, allowing FDHs to apply for further deferral of home leave, and expediting the processing of applications for employment visas for FDHs in Hong Kong. The department also strengthened its service for online submission of applications and implemented, in phases, a series of measures to facilitate visa/entry permit applicants under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates, visitors applying for extension of stay, and FDHs applying for change of employer or extension of stay as visitors. Since some non-permanent residents outside Hong Kong might not be able to return to Hong Kong timely to apply for an extension of stay due to the epidemic, the department also implemented temporary facilitation measures to allow eligible non-permanent residents to make visa/entry permit applications outside Hong Kong for returning to Hong Kong.
The department provided more online service channels so that the applicants of visa/entry permits cna make applications without leaving home.
FDH Section at the Immigration Headquarters introduced a Tag system for applicants to check their tag status online.
In order to protect the health of members of the public and the staff, the department enhanced the cleansing and disinfection work at control points, offices and detention facilities, and maintained a stockpile of personal protective equipment and anti-epidemic supplies. Additional anti-epidemic equipment items, such as hand sanitiser dispensers, sanitising floor mats, infrared temperature scanners and air cleaners, were also provided.
The department enhanced the cleansing and disinfection work at control points, offices and detention facilities.
The department participated in the “LeaveHomeSafe” mobile app scheme to encourage the public to keep a record of their whereabouts.
Even though the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic remained severe, staff of the department continued to contribute to society actively by participating in various anti-epidemic volunteer work, including supporting the back office of the Prince of Wales Hospital, performing tests and quality checks on electronic wristbands for home quarantine, and assisting with the quarantine work in hotels used as Holding Centres for Test Results. The department's volunteer work team also distributed anti-epidemic supplies and gift packs to the elderly and the needy in the community. Moreover, to show the concern and support of the department, welfare officers offer consolation and appropriate assistance to staff members who were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 or subject to compulsory quarantine.
Staff of the department actively participated in various anti-epidemic volunteer work to protect Hong Kong with the community.