Taiwan as of October had issued about 47,000 residency permits to Hong Kongers since January 2018, with 97 percent of residency applications and 75 percent of permanent residency applications being approved for people from the territory, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Tuesday.
MAC officials made the remarks during a seminar in Taipei for Hong Kongers seeking alien resident certification. Nearly 30 Hong Kongers attended the event.
Immigration is a life-changing decision and every person who has made that commitment should be welcomed and helped by Taiwanese, said Hong Kong, Macau, Inner Mongolia and Tibet Affairs division head Lu Chang-shui (盧長水), who is secretary-general of the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Cooperation Council.
Photo: courtesy of the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Cooperation Council
Government agencies should review immigration applications with the solemn care that they deserve, as the task is crucial to Taiwan’s free, open and democratic institutions, Lu said.
Fair treatment of immigrants seeking a new life and home is paramount, he said.
More than 97 percent of Hong Kongers were granted temporary residency for education, employment and other purposes over the past five years, while about 9,000 people from Hong Kong and Macau, or 75 percent of applicants, who met the more stringent standards for permanent residency were granted it, he said.
The government’s policy is to assist and supervise people applying for residency to guide those with a sincere wish to build a new life in Taiwan, he said, adding that many people who have attended past seminars became residents.
National Immigration Agency data showed that 46,564 Hong Kongers and 6,231 Macanese were granted residency permits in the period, while 8,132 Hong Kongers and 913 Macanese received permanent resident status.
The peak year for Hong Kong immigration to Taiwan was 2021 in the five-year period, with 11,173 alien resident certificates (ARC) and 1,685 alien permanent resident certificates being granted, the data showed.
The 2021 ARC figure was a 169.3 percent increase over the figure in 2018, the year before protests in the territory began against Beijing-imposed amendments to extradition laws.
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