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VISIT BY HEAD OF MVD TO HONG KONG, 13-14 MAY
1. I called on Mr Lawrence Leung, the Director of Immigration,
spent a day visiting various sections of the Immigration Department and called on the Deputy Political Adviser and at BTC. I also
visited the Canadian Immigration operation, their largest in the
world.
2. My objective was primarily to maintain the excellent working relationship with the Hong Kong Immigration Service for whom a high proportion of our total visas in SE Asia are issued.
3. The Hong Kong Immigration Service has more comprehensive
functions than the British IS, having full responsibility for post-entry enforcement, ie a policing function. It is also responsible for registration of births, deaths and marriages, and this, coupled with the fact that Hong Kong operates a comprehensive
ID system, greatly facilitates the checking and processing of
applications.
4. The Hong Kong operation is well staffed and accommodated in smart modern offices. Waiting rooms are bright, clean and spacious.
There is ample counter space and interviewing booths. The contrast
with the facilities in many of our missions is striking.
5.
Automation plays a major rôle in the Hong Kong IS operations.
It is presently based upon 3 distinct systems:
ICIS a comprehensive ID index on-line to police stations for referral of suspects.
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TRAICET (Travel Record and Immigration Control Enforcement System) with terminals at all ports of entry logs and records all movements in and out of Hong Kong. HK residents travelling on ID cards can be checked against ICIS. Non HK arrivals are checked against a warning list. The system fulfils much of the
on-shore rôle of IRIS II.
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