16.
The first tangible step in the emigration
is
process information
the
•
the lodging of
an application. Some is available from consulates/commissions of three major destination countries (Canada, U.S.A., Australia) on the number of applications received. Number of applications do reflect the general desire to emigrate, but it will not show up in the actual departure figure in the short-run due to the time needed
to go through the whole application process before visas are issued allowing for physical departure from Hong Kong.
17.
The 4 June events in China in 1989 do lead to increase in the
in the number of applications lodged with the consulates/commissions, which will take some time to work its way through the system. Instead of having a sharp rise in emigration in a single year, a slightly higher outflow spread over a number of years is expected. result is adding to the backlog and prolonging the waiting time before a visa is issued. Visa application statistics for the major three destination countries are
Annex III.
The
at
Roughly speaking for the three most popular destination countries for Hong Kong residents, the USA Consulate received about 2.500 applications a month, the Canadian Commission 1,500 a month and the Australian Commission 1 000 a month.
Sources of information tapped by Hong Kong Government
18.
It should be emphasized that there are no statistics on emigration per se. Like all free societies. Hong Kong is more concerned
concerned with controlling immigration than with gathering information about persons leaving For this reason, in assessing the extent of
extent of emigration, the Hong Kong Government must make use of statistics gleaned from various sources which, taken together and after improvement and adaptation, allow a reasonable assessment to be made .
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