My domestic helper is a Burmese passport holder. She has been under my employment for seven years. Her employment visa is valid until 1997.
Whenever she goes on holiday after her contract she usually gets a re-entry visa which is usually valid for three months so that she can come back to Hong Kong. She has never been to Macau.
I brought her to see Macau on June 29. She passed the Hong Kong and Macau immigration checkpoints without any problems. She enjoyed seeing Macau. But her smiles turned to tears when she was detained at Hong Kong immigration on her return on June 30, at 10pm.
After the immigration officer made a telephone call for half an hour she was told that she could go. But when I asked for an explanation as to why she was detained, her passport and my identity card were taken back again by an immigration officer. After the immigration officer made another telephone call for half an hour I was told that she did not have a re-entry visa. She was asked to fill up a re-entry visa application form and I was asked to write a letter to certify that she was under my employment. Then she was asked to pay $115. A re-entry visa which was only valid for June 30 was chopped on her passport and she was allowed to enter Hong Kong.
According to a notice displayed in the Hong Kong Immigration Department, domestic helpers do not require a re-entry visa.
But the immigration officer at the Hong Kong-Macau checkpoint explained to me that it is true that no re-entry visa is required by any domestic helper, but it is required by Burmese passport holders. I do not understand why such a restriction is only imposed on Burmese passport holders.
