Eight more cities will be added to the central government’s Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) from May 27.
The programme, which was first rolled out in 2003, enables mainlanders to visit Hong Kong and Macau as an individual traveller.
The National Immigration Administration (NIA) made the announcement in a statement on Saturday.
The National Immigration Administration is a sub-ministry level executive agency administrated by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
Scheme to cover 59 cities, all provincial-level capitals
The new measure will bring the total number of IVS cities to 59.
The eight cities to be added to the scheme are all provincial-level capitals of four provinces and four autonomous regions, namely Shanxi province’s Taiyuan, Heilongjiang province’s Harbin, Gansu province’s Lanzhou, Qinghai province’s Xining, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s Hohhot, the Tibet Autonomous Region’s Lhasa, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region’s Yinchuan, and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region’s Urumqi.
After including the eight cities, all 31 provincial-level administrative divisions (22 provinces, five autonomous regions, and four municipalities) in the mainland will be covered by the Individual Visit Scheme, which more specifically means that from May 27 all the 27 provinces and autonomous regions will each have one or more than one city included in the scheme which currently also covers the four municipalities of Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai and Tianjin.
In other words, all provincial-level capitals in the mainland will be covered by the scheme a fortnight later.
The central government’s decision to newly add the eight cities to its Individual Visit Scheme came after Shaanxi province’s capital of Xi’an and Shandong province’s port city of Qingdao were added to the scheme on March 6 this year.
Currently, 51 cities in the mainland are covered by the Individual Visit Scheme.
Since the scheme was rolled out in 2003, the number of IVS cities had been gradually increased until 2007 when the scheme then covered 49 cities. Since then, no new cities had been added to the scheme, before March 6 this year when Xi’an and Qingdao were added to the scheme, bringing the number of IVS cities to 51.
The scheme currently covers all 21 cities in the neighbouring province of Guangdong, the four municipalities of Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai and Tianjin, one or more than one city in various provinces, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s capital of Nanning.
The full list of the scheme’s current 51 cities in English can be accessed at: https://www.tourism.gov.hk/en/visitor_ind.php
Those from other cities not covered by the scheme can only visit Hong Kong and Macau by joining tour groups.
Saturday’s NIA statement announced that the National Immigration Administration will start the issuing of IVS travel permits to residents from the eight cities on May 27.
According to the NIA statement, eligible residents from the eight cities can now apply for their IVS travel permits at police service centres’ immigration service counters or self-service kiosks.
Holders of IVS travel permits can stay in Hong Kong or Macau for up to seven days per visit.
According to the statement, two types of IVS travel permits to visit Macau will be issued to those from the eight cities, namely one visit during a three-month period, or one visit during a 12-month period.
In addition to the two types, two other kinds of IVS travel permits will be issued to those visiting Hong Kong, namely two visits during a three-month period, or two visits during a 12-month period, according to the statement.
Local govt’s response
According to a follow-up statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) on Saturday, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, on behalf of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) government, expressed his sincere gratitude to the central government for rolling out more measures favourable to Macau’s development.
The statement also said that the MSAR government will continue to work with the city’s tourism sector with the aim of constantly improving Macau’s tourism facilities and carrying capacity to receive visitors.
The statement noted that the eight cities together cover a large population, because of which adding the eight cities to the Individual Visit Scheme will further boost the performance of Macau’s tourism.
The statement underlined that the local government will well prepare Macau for welcoming IVS visitors from the eight cities.
Locals and visitors walk in Rua da Palha near the Ruins of St Paul’s yesterday. – Photo: Rui Pastorin
