Due to an increase in Covid-19 cases and to help reduce the gathering of crowds, the Hong Kong government announced temporary work-from-home (WFH) arrangements for civil servants. Accordingly, the Immigration Department (ImmD) will only be providing limited and emergency or essential services to members of the public until at least December 15, subject to a possible extension of the WFH arrangements. Applicants who are required to attend the operating ImmD offices in person for urgent immigration needs should expect long waiting times and must adhere to regulations from the government concerning wearing masks and complying with social distancing.
Those ImmD offices providing limited and emergency services will operate during normal opening hours. However, other ImmD offices, such as the Smart Identity Replacement centers, will be temporarily closed, with services suspended.
Further to the above, according to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, with the exception of the Hong Kong International Airport, Shenzhen Bay and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Control Points, passenger immigration clearance services in other immigration control points will remain suspended until further notice.
For further information on the submission of immigration applications for Hong Kong, please contact the Sterling Lexicon immigration team.