WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1994
10
VISA REQUIREMENTS FOR MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES TO BE REVIEWED
FOLLOWING IS A QUESTION BY THE HON MARTIN BARROW AND A REPLY BY THE SECRETARY FOR SECURITY, MR ALISTAIR ASPREY, IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY (WEDNESDAY):
QUESTION REGARDING THE PROCESSING ON VISAS FOR VISITORS FROM
OVERSEAS, WILL THE GOVERNMENT INFORM THIS COUNCIL:
(A) WHAT STEPS WILL THE GOVERNMENT TAKE TO SPEED
PROCESSING OF THESE APPLICATIONS;
(B)
UP THE
L'OUNTRIES
OF THE REASONS WHY THE NATIONALS OF CERTAIN E.G.
LEBANON, CAN OBTAIN VISAS TO THE UK IN 6 HOURS WHILE IT TAKES 6 WEEKS TO OBTAIN VISAS TO HONG KONG?
(C) WHETHER THE
GOVERNMENT
WILL CONSIDER
PLEDGES WITH IMPROVED PERFORMANCE; AND
ISSUING NEW
(D) WHETHER IT WILL REVIEW FURTHER ABOLITION OF VISIT VISA
REQUIREMENTS?
REPLY:
MR PRESIDENT,
(A)
(B)
HONG KONG HAS A LIBERAL VISA REGIME. NATIONALS FROM OVER 170 COUNTRIES DO NOT REQUIRE VISAS FOR SHORT VISITS TO HONG KONG. WHERE VISIT VISAS ARE REQUIRED, THE IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT USUALLY CAN ISSUE VISAS WITHIN FOUR WEEKS, ALTHOUGH SIX WEEKS IS NORMAL WHERE MORE THOROUGH SECURITY CHECKS ARE REQUIRED. WE DO REGULARLY SEEK WAYS TO IMPROVE OUR EFFICIENCY IN VISA PROCESSING. FOR EXAMPLE, WE PLAN TO ISSUE MACHINE READABLE PERMITS FOR TAIWAN VISITORS AT THE END OF THIS YEAR, TO REDUCE PROCESSING AND CLEARANCE TIME. WE PLAN TO ACCEPT APPLICATIONS FOR VISIT VISAS DIRECT FROM OVERSEAS APPLICANTS IN MID-1995; THIS WILL ENABLE THE PROCESSING TIME TO BE SHORTENED.
OF
HONG
THE
I UNDERSTAND THAT THE DIFFERENCE IN TERMS PROCESSING TIME BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND KONG IS NOT AS GREAT AS THE QUESTION SUGGESTS. UNITED KINGDOM GENERALLY TAKES BETWEEN TWO AND THREE WEEKS TO PROCESS A VISA, BUT THIS CAN EXTEND UP TO SIX WEEKS IN THE CASE OF CERTAIN MIDDLE EAST NATIONALS, THIS LS SIMILAR TO THE LENGTH OF TIME 1T PRESENTLY TAKES US TO PROCESS APPLICATIONS FROM THOSE MIDDLE EAST NATIONALS WHOSE COUNTRIES FAIL то
TERRORISM.
CONTROL.
/(C) THE DIRECTOR