General Policy on Entry for Employment

The Immigration Department is responsible for handling matters relating to the entry of foreigners for employment. Foreigners may work or invest in Hong Kong if they possess special skills, knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available in Hong Kong and are employed with a remuneration broadly commensurate with the market level, or they can make a substantial contribution to the economy.

Genuine business people and entrepreneurs are welcome to establish a presence in Hong Kong, bringing with them capital and expertise. Qualified professionals, technical staff, administrators and managerial personnel are also admitted with the minimum formalities. During the year, 19 155 foreign professionals and people with technical, administrative or managerial skills from more than 100 countries/territories were admitted for employment.

Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals

The Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals was implemented in 2003, replacing the Admission of Talents Scheme and the Admission of Mainland Professionals Scheme. The scheme aligns the conditions for admitting Mainland people for employment with those applicable to foreigners. It aims at attracting talented people and professionals to work in Hong Kong to meet local manpower needs and enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness in the globalised market. (Further details of this scheme are given in Chapter 20).

Admission of Mainland Students Graduated from University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded Institutions in Hong Kong

Mainland students who have graduated from UGC-funded institutions since 1990 may be admitted for employment, provided that they possess special skills, knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available in Hong Kong and are employed with a remuneration broadly commensurate with the market level. The objective of this arrangement is to attract outstanding Mainland students who have completed full-time studies at the bachelor degree level or above to re-enter Hong Kong for employment after graduation to increase the territory's competitiveness in the knowledge-based global economy.

Supplementary Labour Scheme

The Supplementary Labour Scheme is operated for the importation of workers to fill vacancies at the technician level or below. The Government's policy on importation of labour is based on two cardinal principles:

All applications under the scheme are considered on a case-by-case basis. To ensure priority of employment for local workers, each application for imported workers has to pass three tests before it is submitted to the Labour Advisory Board for consideration and to the Government for a decision. These tests are: advertising in newspapers, job-matching by the Labour Department for four weeks, and a tailor-made retraining course for workers, if appropriate. In all, 713 visas/entry permits were issued during the year and a cumulative total of 11 037 visa/entry permit applications have been approved by year-end.

Foreign Domestic Helpers

Foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) may be admitted subject to the conditions that they have relevant working experience, and that their employers are bona fide Hong Kong residents who are prepared to offer reasonable terms of employment including suitable accommodation and wages not lower than the level of the minimum allowable wage as set by the Government. Their employers must also be willing to provide for the maintenance of the helpers and meet the costs of the passage of the helpers when they return to their country of origin. Employers must also satisfy requirements on income and assets.

In general, demand for FDHs has increased over the past three decades. At the end of 2004, there were 218 430 such helpers in Hong Kong, an increase of 0.7 per cent compared with the number of 216 863 in 2003. About 54.8 per cent of the FDHs in Hong Kong were from the Philippines and 41.2 per cent from Indonesia.

Telephone Enquiry Service

The Labour Department's Telephone Enquiry Service handles general enquiries on labour legislation and on services offered by the department. Guided by an interactive voice processing system, callers can listen to pre-recorded messages and obtain fax information 24 hours a day by making a selection from a wide range of topics. The service is supplemented by staff operators handling more complicated enquiries during office hours. The service handled 538 548 calls from January to June 2004. In July 2004, the service was merged with the telephone enquiry service operated by the Integrated Call Centre of the Efficiency Unit to provide an enhanced service. Since then, the department's enquiry hotline, 2717 1771, has been handled by the '1823 Citizen's Easy Link'.