Confounding predictions that tens of thousands of grown-up mainland children would flood into Hong Kong to reunite with their parents thanks to an easing of the policy on right of abode, only 170 have been issued one-way permits in the programme's first two months.
Dozens of mainland children and their parents campaigned outside the Legco building yesterday, decrying the slow application process for those seeking to migrate.
Lawmakers wondered if the creeping pace was connected to possible corrupt practices within mainland authorities.
Hong Kong immigration officials said they had received no complaints of authorities seeking bribes. However, one applicant told the South China Morning Post that on the mainland she had been asked to pay 20,000 yuan (HK$24,000) to 25,000 yuan to 'speed up' the application process.
'If I don't apply through the back door, I really don't know how much longer I can wait,' said the woman, who used the pseudonym, May Li.
Under the policy announced on January 14, children of Hongkongers born on the mainland who were under 14 when their natural father or mother obtained a Hong Kong identity card before November 1, 2001, are eligible to apply for right of abode.
Li, 33, who lives in Shanwei, Guangdong, said she was happy to learn she could finally reunite with her aged parents in Hong Kong. But that elation turned to frustration when she did not have enough money to bribe the person in charge of approving applications in her city's public security bureau.