Immigration Department increases visa fees

Immigration Tower in Wan Chai

THE Immigration Department (ImmD) has revised its fees for visas and other immigration documents and processes.

The ImmD on March 25 revised its fees for some services, including the issuing of visas/entry permits and travel documents, genetic tests, and the delivery of travel documents outside Hong Kong.

“It is the government’s established policy that fees charged by the Government should in general be set at levels sufficient to recover the full cost of providing the service,” a spokesman said.

According to the ImmD website, the fee for ordinary visas was increased from $190 to $230; from $100 to $120 for transit visas, $190 to $230 for change of condition of stay or extension of limit of stay, $46 to $55 for re-entry permits valid for one visit, and $390 to $470 for entry permits for multiple entries valid for one year.

The government said a recent costing review showed that the fees payable for some Immigration services “are not adequate to recover the full cost of providing those services.”

“Based on the government-wide general guidelines for fee increases, the fees of the services concerned will be increased by 9 per cent to 21 per cent. The proposals will have little impact on the daily life of most people and very limited impact on general business activities,” the spokesman added.

The Immigration Department said it regularly reviews the arrangements for handling various types of applications and services with a view to improving the cost effectiveness as well as the quality of services. Measures are in place to control the cost of providing the services.