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Population and Immigration
handling nationality and residency matters; and registering births, deaths and marriages. The department enhances these services through the use of advanced information technology.
The department has 5,668 disciplined staff members and 1,543 civilian staff members as of 31 December 2015.
Immigration Control
Hong Kong welcomes visitors and adopts an open visa policy. People from about 170 countries and territories may visit Hong Kong visa-free for a period ranging from seven to 180 days. More than 290 million people entered and left the city in 2015, representing an increase of 2.1 per cent from 2014. Over 110 million people arrived by land, including more than 41 million visitors, most of whom were Mainland residents. An electronic system, e-Channel, installed at boundary crossings (including vehicular control points) provides automated immigration clearance services for Hong Kong residents, enrolled Consular Corps Identity Card holders, visitors and eligible Mainland visitors.
Reciprocal use of automated immigration clearance services has been introduced with South Korea, Germany and Singapore. These arrangements allow greater travel convenience for passport holders of the HKSAR and of the participating countries.
Legal Immigration
The Mainland is the major contributor to Hong Kong's immigrant population. In 2015, about 38,300 Mainlanders joined their families in Hong Kong under the One-way Permit Scheme, which imposes a daily quota of 150.
Right of Abode
Article 24 of the Basic Law states that Hong Kong permanent residents, regardless of their nationalities, have the right of abode in the HKSAR and may obtain permanent identity cards.
Certificate of Entitlement Scheme
Under Article 24(2)(3) of the Basic Law, Chinese nationals born outside Hong Kong of Hong Kong permanent residents are entitled to be HKSAR permanent residents with the right of abode. The Immigration Ordinance stipulates that for a person to qualify for the right of abode under Article 24(2)(3), one of his or her natural parents must be a Chinese citizen who has the right of abode at the time of that person's birth.
The government introduced a Certificate of Entitlement Scheme on 10 July 1997, under which a person's status as an HKSAR permanent resident under Article 24(2)(3) can be established only by holding a valid travel document such as a One-way Permit with a valid certificate of entitlement affixed to it. This enables systematic verification of right-of-abode claims and ensures orderly entry. Between 1 July 1997 and the end of 2015, some 208,100 certificate of entitlement holders entered Hong Kong from the Mainland.
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