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A Government spokesman said today (July 17) that eligible Mainland pregnant women whose husbands are Hong Kong residents can make delivery bookings for 2014 and beyond through the existing special arrangements, after submitting to private hospitals the originals of the following documents:
1. A Hong Kong certificate of marriage, or a certificate of marriage notarised by a notary public office in the Mainland; and
2. The husband's Hong Kong permanent identity card, or the husband's Hong Kong identity card and Permit for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao (commonly known as "One-way Permit"); and
3. Oaths taken by the husband and the wife separately on their marital and parent-child relationships.
Each couple will also be required to sign a consent form authorising the authority to conduct checks with the relevant Hong Kong and Mainland departments and organisations on their marriage certificate, proof of their identity and other documents.
Under the arrangements, private hospitals may issue a Confirmation Certificate on Delivery Booking (Confirmation Certificate) based on the documents submitted by the couples concerned and the availability of obstetric services. Their identity and marital relations will be subject to stringent verification by the Government in order to forestall anyone posing as spouses of Hong Kong residents for delivery in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, having considered the demand from local pregnant women for obstetric services in public hospitals, urgent delivery cases referred from private hospitals and the demand for neonatal intensive care unit services, the Hospital Authority has to reserve all beds for obstetric services in public hospitals for these purposes in 2014 and hence cannot accept any bookings for obstetric services from non-local pregnant women (including Mainland pregnant women whose husbands are Hong Kong residents).
Currently, Mainland pregnant women who have been pregnant for 28 weeks or more must hold and produce a Confirmation Certificate issued by hospitals in Hong Kong for checking by immigration officers when they enter Hong Kong or else they may be refused entry.
Ends/Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:31
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