Residents in some parts of Guangdong province will soon be able to apply for an upgraded version of multi-entry travel permits to visit the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, starting as early as Sunday, the National Immigration Administration announced on Friday.
Under the new “one permit, multiple entries” policy, effective next month, residents of Shenzhen with travel permits – including those holding residence permits – will be allowed to visit Hong Kong SAR as many times as they wish within a year, with each stay capped at seven days.
Additionally, Zhuhai residents will be able to get a one-trip-per-week permit for vacations to Macao SAR starting in January, allowing them to visit once a week for up to seven days.
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Furthermore, residents of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin will also be able to apply for the multiple-entry option for Macao SAR beginning next year, enabling limitless access under similar conditions.
The administration said that eligible residents can submit their applications through local public security immigration offices. From Sunday, applications for the previous permits allowing Chinese mainland residents to travel to Hong Kong SAR at most once per week will no longer be accepted, but any permits that have already been issued will remain valid until their expiration dates.
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A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government welcomed the new policy on Friday and expressed gratitude to the central government for its support. The new arrangement will allow individuals in Shenzhen, who do not have hukou (household registration documents) but hold residence permits, to obtain multiple-entry travel permits. This development is expected to inject new momentum into the SAR’s tourism, dining, and retail sectors, according to the spokesperson.
An official estimate indicates that the expansion will raise the number of eligible Shenzhen residents for the "multiple-entry" permit to over ten million.
