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Wednesday, August 2, 1972
ALLOCATION OF IMMIGRATION POWERS
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The Acting Attorney General, the Hon. G.R. Sneath, said today
that an elaborate system of allocating powers and responsibilities under
the Immigration Ordinance may prevent the Immigration Department from
being administered efficiently.
Moving the second reading of the Immigration (Amendment) Bill
1972, in the "Legislative Council, Mr. Sneath said that two examples of
this had come to light.
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The first case concerns the power to vary conditions under which
people are permitted to stay in Hong Kong.
At present over 6,000 such applications are made every month simply
by people seeking to extend their stay, and to cope with this number, the
Director considers that they should be handled over the counter.
However under the present ordinance, the exercise of this power is
limited to the Director himself, his deputy and his assistant directors:
The amending bill will allow these "over-the-counter" applications
to be handled by immigration officers.
The bill will also allow Immigration Assistants, in addition to
Immigration Officers, to exercise powers related to their normal duties in
immigration control.
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