The government will raise the fees for obtaining a Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) passport and a MSAR travel permit to 430 patacas and 360 patacas respectively, according to a by-law promulgated in the Official Gazette (BO) on Mondaytourist.
Currently, a resident is charged 300 patacas for a MSAR passport and 250 patacas for a MSAR travel permit. The by-law will take effect on December 3.
Government-drafted by-laws, officially known as administrative regulations, do not require the legislature’s approval.
Travel documents issued by the MSAR government comprise passports and travel permits. A Chinese citizen holding a Macau permanent resident ID card is eligible to obtain a MSAR passport, while a Chinese citizen who is a Macau non-permanent resident is eligible to obtain a MSAR travel permit.
The new by-law amends the current by-law detailing the administrative procedures of the issuance of MSAR passports and travel permits promulgated in 2009.
Executive Council spokesman Leong Heng Teng said in a press conference last Friday that the government had finished drafting the new by-law. Leong said the government had decided to raise the fees in order to cover the direct material cost of producing the travel documents.
Leong also noted that the current fees for the issuance of both MSAR passports and travel permits have not changed since 1999.
During last Friday’s press conference, Identification Services Bureau (DSI) Director Aoieong U said that about 420,000 are holding an MSAR passport, while 20,000 or so are holding an MSAR travel permit.
