Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ22: Arrangements for registration of persons services
Question:
It has been reported that the Registration of Persons – Hong Kong Office (Hong Kong Office) of the Immigration Department (ImmD), which is located on the 8th floor of the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai, is expected to relocate within 2026. Regarding the arrangements for registration of persons (ROP) services, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the usage figures and expenditures of each ROP office in the past three years;
(2) of the relocation details (including the timetable) of the Hong Kong Office;
(3) of the criteria adopted by the Government for determining the new location of the Hong Kong Office, e.g. whether it will consider facilitating members of the public to renew their Mainland Travel Permits for Hong Kong and Macao Residents concurrently, or relocating the office to the area of Wan Chai District or the Central and Western District in the vicinity of the original location; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4) given that apart from the Hong Kong Office, the ImmD currently also operates the Hong Kong Island Travel Documents Issuing Office in the Harbour Building in Central, as well as the Births and Deaths General Register Office and the Marriage Registration and Records Office in the Queensway Government Offices respectively, and as the Queensway Government Offices have been reserved for the expansion of the High Court, whether the authorities have plans to consolidate the offices in the aforesaid three locations into one integrated office, so as to optimise the use of resources and achieve synergy; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5) in order to facilitate members of the public to use self-service kiosks to apply for or collect documents outside office hours, whether the Hong Kong Office will set up Personal Documentation Submission Kiosks after its relocation, so as to provide automated services for the applications for identity cards and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
In consultation with the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, a reply to the questions raised by the Hon Chan Hak-kan is as follows:
| @The usage statistics reflect the number of applications, document collections and enquiries at each office (rounded to the nearest thousand). In 2023, usage was significantly higher due to factors including resumption of normal travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland. ^The extended service hours of the four ROP Offices began on March 6, 2023 and ended on December 31, 2024. *The ROP – Kwun Tong Office was relocated to the new headquarters in Tseung Kwan O on June 11, 2024, and renamed as the ROP – Tseung Kwan O Office. #The ROP – Kwun Tong (Temporary) Office commenced operations on November 1, 2023. As operating ROP Offices is part of the regular duties of the ImmD, the ImmD does not maintain a separate breakdown of the operation expenses for each ROP Office. The salaries expenses related to ROP Offices in the past three financial years are tabulated below:
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