Hikk 34115
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51
19 NOV 1980
DESK OFFICER INDEX
PA
233-4439
REGISTRY Action Taken
C Irving Esq
Faculty of Foreign Language!
Jiaotong University
Xi'an
CHINA
$19.11
An 19/
HKK 341/5
18 November 1980
LAST PAPER
6
In his letter of 18 September, Alan Friar promised you a fuller reply on your remarks on Hong Kong immigration procedures once we had consulted Hong Kong.
I am sorry that your wife experienced difficulty in entering Hong Kong from China. The problem stems from the present lack of adequate immigration facilities in Peking and Hong Kong. Firstly, the British Embassy in Peking has insufficient staff to meet the demand for transit visas from Chinese residents wishing to travel through Hong Kong, and consequently most Chinese transit passengers arrive without them. Secondly, facilities for receiving travellers without visas exist only at Lowu, and it is part of Hong Kong's agreement with the Chinese authorities that they will be asked to proceed to Lowu and not to other control points. It is unlikely that these problems can be remedied in the short term.
Without fuller particulars about your arrival at Kai Tak from Australia, it is not possible for the Immigration Department in Hong Kong to comment on why the immigration officer on the spot may have considered your wife's visa from Canberra unsatis- factory. It must be remembered, however, that a passenger in possession of a visa is still subject to normal immigration examination, and it is quite in order for relevant documentation, such as a marriage licence, to be requested as proof of identity.
P J Williamson
Hong Kong and General Department
12
F