Police-1957-1958 — Page 46

PART X

IMMIGRATION

GENERAL

186. The Commissioner is concurrently the Immigration Officer and is also responsible for maintaining the register of aliens. For general purposes the Immigration Branch is administered by a Gazetted Officer styled the Deputy Immigration Officer.

187. The year's recorded movement of persons in and out of the Colony by land, sea and air was 2,821,379 compared to 3,024,220 for the previous year. The main lines of movement were between Hong Kong and China and Hong Kong and Macau.

188. A quota system designed to regulate the entry of persons from China across the frontier has continued to be operated throughout the year in the interests of the Colony. The official movement figures between Hong Kong and China were 575,166 inward of which 570,076 were Chinese, and 558,368 outward of which 554,528 were Chinese.

189. Organized groups of transient Chinese continued to pass through the Colony to China, the majority from South East Asia. During the year fifty eight ships carried 14,705 such persons against fifty nine ships carrying 12,908 last year.

BRITISH PASSPORT OFFICE

190. There has been a steady increase in the work of this section. The number of passports issued to students going abroad was 534 compared to 432 last year and a greater demand for passports was evident in the local born Chinese wishing to proceed to the United Kingdom for employment.

191. The following table shows the main heads of business handled:

(a) British passports issued

(b) British passports renewed

1956/57

1957/58

3,190

3,470

1,367

1,258

(c) British passports endorsed

2,455

1.316

(d) Emergency Certificates issued

1,311

2,296

(e) Applications received for Naturalization (f) Applications for Naturalization approved

269

226

178

182

REGISTRATION OF ALIENS

192. The total recorded movement of aliens into and out of the Colony was 228,897 as compared with 171,244 last year. During the

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