Macau, China 4 Nov – The Macau government is set to restrict entry of citizens from Vietnam, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nigeria and Bangladesh until the end of the year, in order to reduce illegal immigration in the territory, according to an official source quoted by Portuguese news agency Lusa.
According to the source from the office of the Secretary for Security, following a study from the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, which should be completed by the end of the year, tourists from those six countries in Asia and Africa will be obliged to request prior authorization in their countries of origin, for a short stay in Macau.
The Macau authorities may also require, upon arrival, proof of financial capacity of tourists from Vietnam, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nigeria and Bangladesh, in addition to return tickets to their countries of origin, credit cards and other forms of support that prove their ability to stay in the territory during the period of the visa.
This is one of the measures to fight illegal immigration that the government is developing and according to the Office of the Secretary for Security, it intends to counter the increase that Macau has seen in the number of illegal immigrants from those six countries.
Recently, the government increased the daily fine for overstayers in Macau from 20 patacas to 200 patacas.
In the first half of the year, local authorities identified 91,737 people living illegaly in Macau, most of them coming from the mainland (83,870) and 7867 foreigners overstaying in the territory. The number includes those who paid the fine, thus not officially illegal immigrants.
(MacauNews)
