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19 elderly apply for Portable CSSA

The Social Welfare Department has so far received 19 applications for Portable Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (PCSSA) since the scheme was launched last Tuesday (April 1).

A department spokesman said the applications were being processed.

The PCSSA scheme, he said, allowed elderly Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients to continue to receive welfare payments if they wished to retire to Guangdong, China.

To be eligible, an applicant must be:

a Hong Kong permanent resident who has lived in the territory for at least seven years;

aged 60 or above; and

having received CSSA continuously for three years immediately before application.

An eligible single elderly will receive a monthly standard rate of $2,060 and an annual long-term supplement of $1,530.

Interested applicants should approach their respective Social Security Field Unit which deal with their CSSA cases, or call the SWD's hotline 2343 2255.

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