Macau Yearbook 2013 - Macao Yearbook

Macao Yearbook 2013Such people include Chinese citizens who have ordinarily resided in Macao for seven consecutiveyears before or after the establishment of the Macao SAR; children of Chinese nationality bornoutside Macao whose parents are Chinese nationals and permanent residents of Macao; people ofboth Chinese and Portuguese descent who have ordinarily resided in Macao for seven consecutiveyears before or after the establishment of the MSAR; and children of Chinese nationality orchildren born outside Macao who have not selected a nationality but intend to reside in Macaopermanently and whose parents are permanent Macao residents of either Chinese citizenship orPortuguese descent.The certificate of entitlement to right of abode indicates its date of effectiveness, prior to whichholders of the certificate have no right to enter or reside in Macao.Between 20 December 1999 and 31 December 2012, the Identification Services Bureau issued61,612 certificates of entitlement to right of abode.Certificate of Criminal RecordIn August 1996, the Identification Services Bureau started to issue certificates of criminal recordand certificates of special record for minors. The former is the sole and sufficient document toprove whether an applicant has any criminal record; while the latter is applicable to those under 16.Between 1 January and 31 December 2012, the bureau issued a total of 92,496 certificates ofcriminal record. Of these, 76,173 were public applications, and 16,323 were agency applications.Among the 118 certificates of special record for minors that were issued, 14 were to individualapplicants, and 104 to public bodies.Immigration ControlsAccording to the Basic Law, the Government may impose restrictions on people from other countriesor regions entering, staying in, and leaving Macao. The Immigration Department of the PublicSecurity Police is responsible for entry and exit in Macao.As at May 2013, citizens of 74 countries and regions enjoyed visa-free access to Macao. Touristswith a valid passport or travel document may normally stay in Macao from 14 days to a maximumof 90 days. In addition, British nationals are allowed to stay in Macao for a maximum of six months.Holders of a Hong Kong permanent resident ID card or a return permit to Hong Kong may stayfor a maximum of one year.PRC passport holders who have right of abode in foreign countries may stay for a maximumof 30 days in Macao.Legal ImmigrationStatistics provided by the Public Security Police show that 4,060 legal immigrants arrived from themainland during 2012, of whom 900 were aged between 0 and 18; 1,949 between 19 and 37; 1,179between 38 and 75; and 32 over 75. Of these, 2,628 were females, representing 64.73 percent of398