POPULATION
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Many couples wish to be married over the weekends (especially when the auspicious days of the lunar calendar fall on Saturday or Sunday). To meet this demand, arrangements have been made for the principal marriage registries to operate on Saturdays and Sundays. All registries also make provision for group marriages. As a result of the additional facilities and extended working hours, the average waiting time for registration of a marriage at the popular registries has been reduced from about three months to less than one month.
The Marriage Reform Ordinance provides that all marriages entered into in Hong Kong on or after October 7, 1971 shall imply the voluntary union, for life, of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, and may be contracted only in accordance with the Marriage Ordinance. It declares valid certain customary marriages and other marriages known as modern marriages provided, in each case, they were entered into before October 7, 1971. The ordinance also makes provision for the post-registration of these marriages, and for their dissolution. During the year, 53 customary and 17 modern marriages were post-registered.
Births and Deaths
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The registration of births and deaths is compulsory, and facilities for registration are provided throughout Hong Kong. The General Register Office in Central District keeps all records of births and deaths, and there are sub-registries in all main urban and rural districts. In the outlying areas and islands, births are registered at various rural committee offices by visiting district registrars, and deaths are registered at local police stations.
The statutory period during which a birth should be registered is 42 days from the date of birth. There is no registration fee. However, for registration between the end of the 42-day period and the expiration of one year from the date of birth, a fee of $5 is charged. During the year, 87 104 live births and 24 978 deaths were registered, compared with 85 406 and 25 987 respectively, in 1980. The figures, when adjusted for under registration, gave a natural increase in population for 1981 of approximately 61 954.
A birth which has not been registered within one year may be post-registered with the consent of the Registrar of Births and Deaths and on payment of a $30 fee. During the year, 1 171 births were post-registered.
The Immigration Department is responsible for the registration of births, deaths and marriages in Hong Kong.