ENG-2004 — Page 537

Population and Immigration | 467

or any of the 253 licensed places of public worship. In 2004, 38 790 marriages were celebrated in the marriage registries and 2 564 in licensed places of public worship.

Since 2001, people may book an appointment for giving of the marriage notice through the Internet under the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme or the Interactive Voice Response System. The booking system has proven to be very useful and convenient, with over 98 per cent of the parties who filed their marriage notices on the first day of the notice-giving period booking their appointments through the system.

The Registrar of Marriages is also responsible for issuing Certificates of Absence of Marriage Records. During the year, 14 083 such certificates were issued.

Births and Deaths

Births and deaths registrations in Hong Kong are governed by the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance. Parents must report the birth of their child in Hong Kong to the Registrar of Births and Deaths within 42 days without any fee. A fee is charged if the birth is registered after 42 days and not later than one year. Beyond 12 months after the birth of the child, consent of the Registrar of Births and Deaths is required for post-registration. During the year, 46 births were post-registered.

There are four district birth registries providing birth registration service to the public.

Deaths from natural causes should be registered by the relatives within 24 hours. Hong Kong has three death registries providing free service, and death may also be registered at one of the 15 designated police stations in the New Territories and outlying islands.

During the year, 48 914 live births and 37 322 deaths were registered, compared with 47 687 and 36 422 respectively in 2003. When adjusted for under-registration, the figures gave a natural population increase of about 0.16 per cent.

Establishment

The Immigration Department had 4 535 disciplined staff and 1 551 civilian staff at the end of the year, compared with 4 439 and 1 567 respectively in 2003.

Home Pages

Security Bureau: http://www.sb.gov.hk

Immigration Department: http://www.immd.gov.hk

Census and Statistics Department: http://www.gov.hk/censtatd