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Following is a question by the Hon Ip Kin-yuen and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (June 10):
Question:
It is learnt that recently some intermediaries in Shenzhen have launched Hong Kong companion-study programmes for parents of doubly non-permanent resident (DNR) children (i.e. children born in Hong Kong but whose parents are non-permanent residents of Hong Kong), which assist them to enrol in post-secondary programmes offered by local tertiary institutions, so that they may legally stay in Hong Kong to take care of their DNR children and apply to bring in their mainland spouse and minor children as dependants to live in Hong Kong. Moreover, the intermediaries suggest such parents to take a two-year sub-degree and a four-year undergraduate programmes and then stay in Hong Kong to work for another year in order to fulfil the residence requirement of having ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years, thereby obtaining the right of abode in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of mainland people studying locally-accredited self-financing post-secondary programmes (self-financing post-secondary programmes) (including sub-degree, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes) in Hong Kong and its percentage in the total number of students studying the relevant programmes in each of the past five academic years (with a tabulated breakdown by type of programmes);
(2) whether it knows, among the mainland people studying post-secondary programmes funded by the University Grants Committee (funded post-secondary programmes) or self-financing post-secondary programmes in Hong Kong in each of the past five academic years, the number of those who were parents of DNR children (with a tabulated breakdown by type of programmes);
(3) among the mainland people studying funded post-secondary programmes or self-financing post-secondary programmes in Hong Kong in the past five academic years, of the number of those whose applications for bringing in their dependants to live in Hong Kong were successful and the number of dependants involved;
(4) of the number of non-local graduates of post-secondary programmes taking up employment in Hong Kong in the past five years, with a breakdown by their country/territory of origin and type of programmes they studied;
(5) of the respective numbers of mainland people, who had studied funded post-secondary programmes or self-financing post-secondary programmes in Hong Kong, and their dependants who obtained the right of abode in Hong Kong in each of the past five years; and
(6) whether it has reviewed the system for issuing entry visas to people for coming to Hong Kong to study post-secondary programmes and their dependants; if it has reviewed, of the outcome and the authorities' improvement measures?
Reply:
President,
The consolidated reply of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government to the Member's question is as follows:
(1) A breakdown by level of study of the number of Mainland students taking locally-accredited self-financing post-secondary programmes and as a percentage of the total number of students taking such programmes in the 2010/11 to 2014/15 academic years is tabulated in Annex 1.
(2) The SAR Government does not have such information.
(3) The number of successful applications by dependants of Mainland students in the past five years is tabulated below:
Year Applications approved
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2010 192
2011 192
2012 238
2013 333
2014 348
2015 90
(January - May)
The SAR Government does not maintain other statistical breakdown mentioned in the question.
(4) The number of entrants staying in Hong Kong under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates in the past five years is tabulated in Annex 2.
The SAR Government does not maintain other statistical breakdown mentioned in the question.
(5) The SAR Government does not maintain the statistics of entrants who have been verified as Hong Kong permanent residents enjoying the right of abode in Hong Kong under individual immigration policies / schemes.
(6) The SAR Government, in the light of the prevailing social circumstances, reviews from time to time the policy of developing Hong Kong into a regional education hub and the related admission arrangements for non-local students and their dependants, and if necessary, will make adjustments as appropriate to ensure that such policy meets social needs.
Ends/Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:41
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