It takes about six months for the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) to review a residency application on the basis of investment or skilled labor. Or at least it’s supposed to, but since mid-2018 the Times has learned of a growing number of people stuck waiting for their applications to be processed.
Legally allowed to reside in Macau until a decision has been made, some of these non-permanent residents have waited two years to find out if their residency status will be granted.
The problem is fairly widespread among the expat community and frequently discussed. According to those interviewed by the Times, it has become the topic of the day for many in Macau’s expat circles, with dozens of reports possibly affecting hundreds of people across the territory. Among the affected are the children of non-permanent residents, whose legal right to stay and continue their education in Macau schools depends on the outcome of their parents’ applications.
Those interviewed said that the only information disclosed by IPIM is that their cases are “under review”. That is despite a variety of tactics employed to extract more details about the status and timelines of their applications.
The interviewed say they are now tired with the investment department’s stalling and radio silence. Some say that the lack of information is leading them to question if they have a future in Macau.
The Times contacted IPIM for comment yesterday but did not receive an immediate answer.
“I have heard of many cases of people in exactly the same situation,” said one lawyer asked about how common this situation has become.
“You don’t have a decision [from IPIM], which means you can’t do anything,” said the lawyer, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the topic. “At least if the decision was ‘no’ [and the application was rejected], then you can appeal and resolve the matter. But we have no decision and there is no limit or deadline for that.”
Not just about relief packages
Back in April, the Times published two letters to the editor penned by anonymous residents who were unhappy that the stalled renewal process had left them ineligible for the government’s Covid-19 economic relief measures.
“I know of many cases like mine where residents have been unable to apply for the Economic Relief Grants and the Wealth Partaking Subsidies, due to the that fact that their cards, like mine, have expired, even though they are valid Macau residents,” wrote one author, who asked to be known as “a concerned resident” only.
“We have been working and living in Macau for eight years and we have treated Macau as our home country,” wrote one “concerned family” in the second letter. “We hope the government can consider our plea and extend to us the various government subsidies that are granted to its residents and non-permanent residents.”
The measures introduced this year to combat the economic impact of Covid-19 have highlighted the differences in how the Macau SAR treats its resident population and non-local workforce. But for some of the affected residents, exclusion from the government’s relief package is at the very bottom of a long list of problems caused by IPIM’s stalling.
“For me, the biggest thing is that it doesn’t feel right [to continue] to have our whole lives here,” said Jessica (not her real name), a non-permanent resident who lives in Macau with her family. “We have lived here for 10 years, we have jobs, we pay taxes, our kids go to school here and we are in this situation where we can get a phone call at 5 o’clock to say, ‘you’re not approved’. Because the process has always been unwritten, the actual conditions of whether you will be approved or not are not stipulated. And the insecurity of it all is extremely hard.”
“If IPIM would just say that they need to get their things in order… if they would ask everyone in the renewal process to remain patient while they do this… then it is a whole different ball game. But I think the silence is very frustrating and concerning. People in our situation just speculate. That’s all we can do because nobody talks to us,” said Jessica.
No news is worse than bad news
Jonathan (not his real name) is another resident stuck in limbo, who has been awaiting an answer from IPIM for more than one year. His situation is very different from Jessica’s, but the details of his case are so specific that he fears the government could identify him if even a little information was disclosed.
Jonathan and many others requesting anonymity will not take the risk of jeopardizing their residency applications by going on the record.
He and his lawyer have tried to explain the silence from IPIM, and think it could be related to the corruption allegations levied against the bureau’s former leadership.
Former IPIM leaders Jackson Chang and Glória Batalha Ung stand accused of irregularities in the granting of residency permits for investors and skilled professionals. The 2018 investigation by the Commission Against Corruption that led to the arrest of Chang coincides with the start of the ‘radio silence’ period, prompting some observers to speculate that IPIM’s approval process has been deliberately frozen. Hence no news so far on these cases “under review”.
But for Jonathan, no news is indeed worse than bad news.
“If the application was not approved, then at least we could appeal and that might take another few years. We would be in limbo waiting for the result, but we could make preparations [to leave if necessary],” he told the Times. “The problem is, right now we just don’t know. There is no standard timeline to follow or that we can count on.”
The key to public services
Having filed her application in the spring of 2018, Jessica and family have had multiple rounds of enquiries shrugged off by IPIM officials who offered nothing more than assurance that their cases were “under review”.
Their plight underscores just how essential a Macau identification card is to accessing the most basic of public services.
“I don’t think IPIM or the government realize how bad the situation is for these people. If you are not a resident, then you will not understand the difficulties of getting a bank loan or enrolling your children at a school,” said the lawyer interviewed yesterday by the Times.
Jessica describes the ID card as “the legality that allows your kids to go to schools.” She says that even the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau can’t understand the situation and its staff frequently phone her children’s school to request the required ID information. “The kids should have a valid status to go to school,” she insisted.
Jonathan wanted to register for a new phone number, but even this simplest of tasks became onerous once the store clerk tried to verify his resident status. “I wanted to get a new phone number, but it was difficult without the identification card. I needed to get another letter [from IPIM] and it took five days for the manager to check if they could use [this document] to issue a new phone number,” he said.
While travel has been a major inconvenience for Jessica and Jonathan, the situation has been worsened by the pandemic situation as airlines are extra cautious about transporting non-citizens.
Bank accounts, credit cards and loans all require Macau identification too, and a temporary notice issued by IPIM is not always sufficient evidence for financial institutions.
“It’s not impossible to obtain these things, but I know of one situation where the bank approved the credit card but required the customer to pay 150% of the max credit as a deposit and that’s locked in until your Macau ID is approved. For some people, this must be unaffordable,” Jessica remarked.
Then there is the issue of employee ‘dependents’, such as domestic helpers, whose continual employment relies on the resident status of their employer. “It is another stress factor to know you are responsible for other peoples’ livelihoods,” said Jessica. “I feel responsible for them and I don’t know what I am going to do.”
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