434 | Population and Immigration
Taiwan. Successful applicants are required to invest in Hong Kong not less than $6.5 million in real estate or permissible financial assets, i.e. equities, debt securities, certificates of deposits, subordinated debt and other eligible Collective Investment Schemes. By the end of 2005, a total of 1 110 applications had been received and 598 had been granted formal approval. Another 152 applicants, having been granted approval in principle, will be granted formal approval subject to their investments in the prescribed manner under the scheme. The 598 entrants with formal approval have invested a total of $4,334 million.
Illegal Immigration
The HKSAR is vigilant in guarding against the entry of illegal immigrants. The daily average arrest figure region-wide of Mainland illegal immigrants for 2005 was six, a 25 per cent drop compared with eight in 2004. The number of Vietnamese illegal immigrants arrested in 2005 was 373.
The Government maintains close liaison with the Mainland and overseas governments on matters relating to population movements and irregular migration. During the year, representatives from the HKSAR law enforcement agencies participated in the APEC Workshop on Best Practice of Immigration Liaison Officer Cooperation held in Seoul, Korea in September, the 11th Pacific Rim Immigration Intelligence Conference and the 10th Plenary Meeting of the Inter-governmental Asia-Pacific Consultations on Refugees, Displaced Persons and Migrants held in Shanghai in October.
Emigration
The estimated number of emigrants was 9 800 in 2005 most of whom went to the United States (3 600), Australia (2 000) and Canada (1 900).
Personal Documentation
Travel Documents
The issuance of the HKSAR passport is strictly controlled by the Immigration Department. Under the HKSAR Passports Ordinance, only Chinese citizens who are Hong Kong permanent residents holding Hong Kong permanent identity cards are eligible for the HKSAR passport. The passport contains advanced anti-forgery design features.
Applications can be made either by post or in person. Those from overseas can be sent to the Immigration Department through the nearest Chinese diplomatic or consular missions. All HKSAR passports are prepared centrally by the Immigration Department in Hong Kong, for collection either locally or at the relevant Chinese diplomatic or consular missions overseas. During the year, the number of HKSAR passport applications received was 479 685, including 4 484 from overseas.
The HKSAR Passports Appeal Board handles appeals against refusal of applications for HKSAR passports. It received 31 appeals in 2005.