Mainland immigration authority to ease procedures for businesspeople, university staff

The immigration authority of the mainland has announced an easing of the immigration procedures at the Hengqin border post for certain groups of people.

The authority said that those travelling for business as well as staff members of university institutions would start benefiting from the simplified procedures that already apply to certain other cases.

The idea is to facilitate the border crossing at the Post to boost uptake in transportation and commuting between the mainland and Macau.

The amended rules allow vehicles carrying businesspeople and staff members from the different universities to pass through a single immigration procedure, conducted jointly by both mainland and Macau authorities.

The expansion of the user-friendly policies comes as the mainland authorities finalize the new vehicle lanes at the Hengqin Port that will expand the capacity to receive vehicles crossing this border post.

According to previous announcements, 30 lanes are expected to operate from August this year, raising capacity by about 500%.

In the same regulation amendment, cross-border students, those with mobility challenges, as well as senior citizens will be spared the inconvenience of leaving their vehicle to complete the immigration procedures.

Special procedures are also being negotiated to reinforce the so-called “one event, two places” idea related to the exhibitions and conventions industry, which has several events planned following this approach until the end of the year.