Hong Kong to withdraw visa-free facility for Indians post January 23

Hong Kong to withdraw visa-free facility for Indians post January 23 Hong Kong has decided to withdraw visa-free facility for Indians. Indians can enter with a valid passport for a period up to 14 days without a visa. From January 23, 2017, Indian nationals must apply for and successfully complete pre-arrival registration online before they can visit Hong Kong Special Administrative Region VisaHKSAR visa-

free.The pre-arrival registration is valid for six months, during which the applicant can visit Hong Kong multiple times. Indian nationals must furnish an “approval slip” before boarding a plane or ship to the city.

India was chosen as a “testing point” because it is one of the major sources of asylum-seekers. According to the latest figures, 561,625 Indian tourists visited Hong Kong in 2015, a rise of 22% compared to 2013. In the first 11 months of 2016 alone, 474 615 Indians visited the city.

This is the first time Hong Kong has implemented such a restriction for a country. Among the total of 10,335 pending refugee applications in the city, 80% are from India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia.