"The Pre-arrival
Registration for Indian Nationals will be implemented on January 23, 2017. The
online service for 'Pre-arrival Registration for Indian Nationals' is now
opened," the Hong Kong immigration department said in an announcement on
its official website.
"Indian nationals
must apply for and successfully complete pre-arrival registration online before
they can visit or transit the HKSAR visa-free (if seeking to enter the HKSAR
during transit). Pre-arrival registration is not required for Indian nationals
in direct transit by air and not leaving the airport transit area," it
said.
This is a major setback
for over half a million Indians who visit the former British colony for
business, trade and holidays.
Till now Hong Kong,
which is now a Special Administrative Region of China, has permitted Indians to
enter with valid passport for a period up to 14 days without a visa. But the
facility has been withdrawn despite representations from India ostensibly on
the ground that the number of Indian asylum seekers was on the rise, official
sources told PTI in Beijing.
Indian officials say
that Hong Kong is using the asylum seekers as pretext to deny the visa free
entry to Indians who are one of the largest spenders contributing the local
economy.
There is also concern
whether the move is being brought about by Hong Kong due to pressure from
China.
Hong Kong s
Immigration department assistant director Ma Chi-ming has been quoted by South
China Morning Post as saying that Indian visitors should not enter fake data to
try to enhance their chance of entering Hong Kong to seek economic asylum as
they would bear legal consequences.
