ENG-1964 — Page 191

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Immigration and Tourism

SINCE the Immigration Department was established as an inde pendent organization three years ago there has been a considerable expansion of the facilities for the issue of travel documents and procedures for immigration clearance have been improved. Large increases in staff have been approved for the Harbour and Airport Sections to cope with the steadily increasing volume of traffic, particularly the tourist trade.

The demand for travel facilities increases each year and is prin- cipally reflected in the work of the Chinese Section of the department.

Illegal immigration still continues, though on a much diminished scale. The many thousands who entered the Colony illegally in 1962 have been absorbed into the population and are now asking for dependants who remained behind in China to join them in Hong Kong. In addition, the children of the large numbers of Chinese who entered Hong Kong in 1948 and 1949 are now old enough to need their own travel documents. Children at school in China and Macau were permitted to visit their parents and other relatives in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year and summer holidays. The special permit system introduced last year was used again.

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The volume of business in the British Section has now returned to normal after the temporary slump which followed the passage of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act in 1962 under which Com- monwealth citizens had to obtain work permits before emigrating to Britain. Chinese residents wishing to visit Britain for purposes other than employment are issued with Entry Certificates by the department. There has been a considerable increase in the number of applications for naturalization as British subjects, but a revised processing system has considerably shortened the waiting period.

Once again there has been an increase in the number of aliens in Hong Kong mostly employed in foreign business-houses. The largest group consists of citizens of the United States numbering

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