Secretary says policy on residency remains unchanged

Vítor Sereno and Wong Sio Chak

The policy for handling applications by Portuguese citizens for residency in Macau has not changed, according to assurances given by the Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, to the Consul General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong, Vítor Sereno.
During the meeting held this week, the secretary stated that “Portuguese citizens in general have made a range of positive contributions to the development of Macau over the years,” a government statement indicated.
Wong said figures for the past 12 years showed that only 114 applications by Portuguese citizens for residency in Macau, or 5.6 percent, were rejected out of a total of 2,039. Last year, four applications were not accepted, from the 131 applications received. Since 2003 only one unsuccessful applicant has filed an appeal against the authorities’ decision, Wong stated.
It was also said that the average processing time for each new application was about 76 days. The average time for processing each application for renewal of residency was approximately 25 days.
During the meeting, issues relating to the criteria of how the authorities judge an application were also discussed. These included the applicant’s linkages to the region; family ties and “employment in professions that are in line with Macau’s development and the applicant’s capacity to support him/herself with an adequate livelihood.”
The meeting between the diplomat and Wong Sio Chak follows accusations made by the Council of the Portuguese Communities, which is officiated by lawmaker Pereira Coutinho.
The council has accused the immigration department of taking too long to process local ID requests and of being excessively bureaucratic. In a letter sent to Vítor Sereno, the advisory body claimed that some requests for documents violate privacy laws. “[Authorities] have been requesting bank statements in order to verify banking movements and [have been] requiring salaries greater than MOP25,000, a value that we consider extremely high,” the letter reads. The number of Portuguese citizens applying for non-resident worker status has also been increasing.