​The Youth Development Commission (YDC) held a policy thematic meeting on youth employment today (August 21) via Facebook live webcast. The Chief Secretary for Administration and Ch… read more
In light of the announcement by the Government on gradual resumption of public services in a safe and orderly manner, the Immigration Department (ImmD) announced today (August 21) the provision of basic and limited public services will be resumed at its offices at the Immigration Headquarters, Immigration Branch Offices, Registration of Persons Offices, and Births, Deaths and Marriage Registries with effect from August 24 as follows:
| Types of services | Service available |
| Travel documents | Urgent application and collection of Hong Kong travel documents only. (For enquiries regarding travel documents, please call 2852 3045 during working hours.) |
| Identity cards | Replacement of identity cards and first registration of identity cards for new arrivals to Hong Kong only. (Identity card application/replacement service for those aged 11 and 18, and other identity card-related services will remain suspended. For enquiries regarding identity cards, please call 3521 6565 during working hours.) |
| Territory-wide Identity Card Replacement Exercise | Provide identity card collection service to those persons who had completed their identity card replacement applications and previously with appointment bookings for replacement of identity cards only (Other applicants are advised to make appointment for replacement of their identity cards if they have not done so before. The ImmD is also planning to revise the designated replacement schedule. Details will be announced later. For enquiries regarding the replacement exercise, please call 3521 6565 during working hours) |
| Visa and extension of stay | Accept only the following applications by drop-in: – visa/entry permit of an urgent nature – extension of stay (including those with appointment bookings) Applicants must provide a local telephone number for contacts (preferably a mobile phone number), the respective offices will contact them for follow-up procedures afterwards (A longer processing time may be required during special work arrangement for Government employees. For enquiries regarding visa and extension of stay applications, please call 3521 1840 during working hours) |
| Right of Abode | All existing services |
| Births Registration | Registration of birth only |
| Deaths Registration | Registration of death only |
| Marriage Registration | Giving a Notice of Intended Marriage and conducting marriage ceremonies at Marriage Registries only (Please also note the Government’s latest requirement on the number of persons allowed in group gatherings) |
In light of the announcement by the Government on gradual resumption of public services in a safe and orderly manner, the Immigration Department (ImmD) announced today (August 21) the provision of basic and limited public services will be resumed at its offices at the Immigration Headquarters, Immigration Branch Offices, Smart Identity Card Replacement Centres, Registration of Persons Offices, and Births, Deaths and Marriage Registries with effect from August 24 as follows:
| Types of services | Service available |
| Travel documents | Urgent application and collection of Hong Kong travel documents only. (For enquiries regarding travel documents, please call 2852 3045 during working hours.) |
| Identity cards | Replacement of identity cards and first registration of identity cards for new arrivals to Hong Kong only. (Identity card application/replacement service for those aged 11 and 18, and other identity card-related services will remain suspended. For enquiries regarding identity cards, please call 3521 6565 during working hours.) |
| Territory-wide Identity Card Replacement Exercise | Provide identity card collection service to those persons who had completed their identity card replacement applications and previously with appointment bookings for replacement of identity cards only (Other applicants are advised to make appointment for replacement of their identity cards if they have not done so before. The ImmD is also planning to revise the designated replacement schedule. Details will be announced later. For enquiries regarding the replacement exercise, please call 3521 6565 during working hours) |
| Visa and extension of stay | Accept only the following applications by drop-in: – visa/entry permit of an urgent nature – extension of stay (including those with appointment bookings) Applicants must provide a local telephone number for contacts (preferably a mobile phone number), the respective offices will contact them for follow-up procedures afterwards (A longer processing time may be required during special work arrangement for Government employees. For enquiries regarding visa and extension of stay applications, please call 3521 1840 during working hours) |
| Right of Abode | All existing services |
| Births Registration | Registration of birth only |
| Deaths Registration | Registration of death only |
| Marriage Registration | Giving a Notice of Intended Marriage and conducting marriage ceremonies at Marriage Registries only (Please also note the Government’s latest requirement on the number of persons allowed in group gatherings) |
As the epidemic situation remains severe, the catering business is continuously affected by the social distancing measures. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (August 21) announced that the FEHD will enhance the Catering Business (Social Distancing) Subsidy Scheme (CSS) under the Anti-epidemic Fund, to assist those who are eligible under CSS but have not submitted any applications for the first tranche of subsidy. Applications may be submitted by eligible licence holders of the four types of restaurants during the period between August 25 and September 14.
The enhanced scheme will open for application by those eligible licence holders of general restaurants, light refreshment restaurants, marine restaurants and factory canteens who are eligible for the CSS but have not applied for the first tranche of subsidy, including those food licence holders who have obtained the first tranche of subsidy from the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) but do not intend to apply for the second tranche of the ESS subsidy. Those applicants are required to be still in operation. Upon approval, the FEHD will provide subsidies ranging from $125,000 to $1.1 million to eligible licence holders in support of payment of employees’ salaries for a three-month period (i.e. September to November of this year) according to the floor areas of the premises.
To avoid abuse, an applicant at the time of application shall:
(1) undertake that there would be no redundancy of staff for three months on receipt of the subsidy;
(2) undertake that not less than 80 per cent of the subsidies would be used to pay salaries of staff working at the premises during the period from September to November this year;
(3) undertake to submit within a specified period a certificate issued by a Certified Public Accountant (practising) (CPA) on its total staff salaries and total number of salaried staff for each of the months covered by the subsidy;
(4) submit a certificate issued by a CPA on its total staff salaries and total number of staff working at the premises (salaried or otherwise) for the month of March 2020 which would be taken into account in checking compliance after disbursement of subsidy; and
(5) declare that he or she has not submitted/will not submit any application for the second tranche of subsidy from the ESS, to avoid double benefits.
For applicants who have submitted their applications for CSS in May to June this year and have received the first tranche of subsidy only need to submit all the necessary documents properly in accordance with the requirements of their original applications. The FEHD will, upon completing the vetting procedures, disburse the second tranche of subsidy under the scheme. For details, please see the press release issued by the FEHD on August 12 (https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202008/12/P2020081200623.htm).
The application form for the enhanced scheme can be downloaded from the website of the FEHD (www.fehd.gov.hk) or be obtained from District Environmental Hygiene Offices of the FEHD. Eligible food licence holders should submit their applications to the District Environmental Hygiene Offices of the FEHD in person, by mail or through the FEHD website. The application period is from August 25 to September 14. The target is that upon receipt of the completed application form and supporting documents and after verification, the disbursement of the subsidies could generally be made in approximately two to three weeks by crossed cheques to the corresponding licensed food premises.
For details, please visit the website of the FEHD. read more
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (August 21) welcomed the arrival of a Mainland nucleic acid test support team and expressed gratitude to the Central Government for its response to the request of the HKSAR Government and the speedy formation of the support team to support the anti-epidemic work of the HKSAR.
The 50-member support team that arrived today, together with the first batch of members who arrived in early August, is led by team leader Mr Yu Dewen, is co-ordinated by the Central Government and was established by the National Health Commission. Ten members arrived in Hong Kong in early August and immediately assisted in the preparatory work for the temporary laboratory to substantially ramp up Hong Kong’s virus testing capability. The arrival of other members of the support team will boost efforts of the HKSAR to carry out community testing.
A Government spokesman said, “In the face of the epidemic, the HKSAR Government has been putting in place various mitigation measures to tackle the epidemic. With the full support of the Central Government, we are confident that we can combat the virus with a view to enabling people to resume their normal daily lives as soon as possible. However, we also need the full co-operation of the public in strictly adhering to social distancing and maintaining personal hygiene to fight the epidemic together with one mind and one heart, without letting down one’s guard, so that we can overcome this challenge and triumph over adversity.”
Also attending today’s ceremony were the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai; the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; the Permanent Secretary for Food and Health (Health), Mr Thomas Chan; the Director of Health, Dr Constance Chan; the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority, Dr Tony Ko; and Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR Ms Qiu Hong.
