POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION
Special Administrative Region Government. In 1989, 1011 300 identity cards were issued under the replacement programme, 248 841 to new arrivals and persons having reached the age of 11 or 18 and 251 400 to persons who had lost or damaged their cards or whose identity cards required amendments.
Marriages
The registration of marriages, births and deaths is the responsibility of the Immigration Department.
All marriages in Hong Kong are governed by the Marriage Ordinance and the Marriage Reform Ordinance. Under the Marriage Ordinance, at least 15 days' notice of an intended marriage must be given to the Registrar of Marriages. The registrar has discretionary powers to reduce the period of notice if there are special circumstances or to grant a special licence dispensing with notice altogether, but this is done only in exceptional circumstances.
Marriages may take place at any of the 210 places of public worship licensed for the celebration of marriages, or at any of the 13 full-time marriage registries and three part-time sub-registries located in the main urban districts and rural centres. During the year, 41 644 marriages were performed in the registries and 2 308 at licensed places of worship. All records are maintained permanently in the General Register Office.
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 makes provision for the post-registration of these marriages, and for their dissolution. During the year, 136 customary and 140 modern marriages were post-registered.
Births and Deaths
The registration of births and deaths is compulsory. The General Register Office keeps all records of births and deaths.
During the year, 72 156 live births and 28 485 deaths were registered, compared with 73 030 and 27 376 respectively in 1988. The figures, when adjusted for under-registration, gave a natural increase in population for 1989 of about 41 000.
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 fee of $70. During the year, 384 births were post-registered in this manner.
Birth registration services in the urban districts are provided by two main birth registries, one on Hong Kong Island and one in Kowloon. There are also six birth registries in the rural areas providing similar services in their respective districts. In the outlying areas and islands, births are normally registered at various rural committee offices by visiting district registrars.
There are two death registries, one on Hong Kong Island and one in Kowloon. Deaths in the rural areas are registered at local police stations except in Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung where deaths are registered in a death registry. Apart from registration of deaths, the death registries issue cremation permits and provide services for the booking of cremation facilities. In addition, they issued 1 647 removal permits in 1989 for the purpose of removing dead bodies for burial outside Hong Kong.
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