The president of the legislature’s Follow-up Committee for Public Administration Affairs, directly-elected lawmaker Si Ka Lon, said yesterday that the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) last year reviewed over 3,000 temporary residency permit applications accumulated over the years, 101 of which it has meanwhile transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for suspected fraud.
Si made the remarks during a press briefing after a closed-door meeting about the controversial scheme between the committee members and IPIM officials at the Legislative Assembly (AL) Building in Nam Van.
According to Si, IPIM reviewed over 3,000 temporary residency applications by professionals and over 100 temporary residency applications by investors that were approved but the applicants were yet to become permanent residents.
Usually, a temporary (officially known as “non-permanent”) residency permit holder can apply for permanent residency after seven years.
Si pointed out that 101 applications have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office for suspected fraud, adding that eight appeal cases were still pending.
Si said that he did not have details about the 101 cases.
According to Si, last year IPIM received 94 temporary residency applications by professionals and investors, comprising six applications by investors and 88 by professionals, adding that so far none of the cases has been approved.
Si also noted that out of the 3,000 accepted applications accumulated over the years, IPIM last year processed 14 cases and approved three temporary residency permits.
Si pointed out that IPIM last year also received 382 temporary residency permit renewal applications, adding that the government-run institute processed 361 applications and renewed 226 of them.
Si said that the committee during yesterday’s closed-door meeting expressed concern about its “sluggish” application process, adding that a number of employers and employees have complained about IPIM’s apparent lack of urgency in processing their applications.
Si also said there were complaints about the fact that the requirements for temporary residency renewal applications varied from time to time.
Si said that some complainants have pointed out that since 2017 IPIM has implemented stricter rules when renewing temporary residency permits, even though the law didn’t change. Si added that the requirements varied from time to time and applicants were often confused as to why they failed to have their permits renewed. Si said that therefore the committee was urging IPIM to provide a clear list of the requirements for applicants to renew their temporary residency permits.
In 2018, the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) published a hard-hitting report regarding IPIM’s approval of temporary residency permit applications by professionals and investors. The report noted that the application review process in 2008-2017 was “careless” and involved a number of suspected fraud cases. Therefore, Macau’s graft busters urged IPIM to tighten its approval requirements to weed out bogus applications.
Si said that the committee also urged IPIM to implement “new rules for new applicants” and “old rules for old applicants”, meaning that new applicants would need to follow the updated “to-do” list for approving temporary residency permit applications, while the old applicants would only need to follow the rules that were in force at the time of their original application. However, Si said that this was just an idea, adding that it needed to be discussed with the government.
The president of the Legislative Assembly’s Follow-up Committee for Public Administration Affairs, Si Ka Lon (left), and fellow committee member Zheng Anting brief the media after a closed-door meeting with IPIM officials about the institute’s controversial temporary residency permit scheme yesterday. Photo: Prisca Tang
