Bad for business and leisure? Why Hong Kong’s visa rules are sending Vietnamese visitors to Asean nations
- Tracy Ly Kiet Oanh had to supply her birth certificate and list of every place she travelled in past decade to city’s immigration authorities to obtain tourist visa
- At a time when Hong Kong is desperate to deepen ties with Southeast Asian nations, city’s tough entry rules are putting Vietnamese tourists and executives off from visiting
When Ho Chi Minh City resident Tracy Ly Kiet Oanh wanted to visit Hong Kong with her mother in June, it took one month to process the paperwork for the tourist visas, but that was only part of the hassle of obtaining the permit.
The administration manager said Hong Kong’s Immigration Department asked for a record of every place overseas she had travelled in the past decade, as well as her birth certificate, as supporting documentation.
“To be honest, I forgot where I had been, especially 10 years ago, so I browsed my social media and retrieved pictures of food and places as proof, even though many of them do not show my face,” she said. “I also don’t have any [original] birth certificate, but lucky that my mother keeps my copy.”
Ly and her mother were given tourist visas to enter Hong Kong, but the permits were valid for only seven days and cost HK$230 (US$30) each, while the maximum period of stay for business executives is two weeks.
Travelling elsewhere in the region is far easier for Vietnamese, as they do not need a visa to enter Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos or other countries that belong to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) trade bloc.
While Ly said she enjoyed Hong Kong and hoped to visit more often, the visa requirement was off-putting.
Business leaders and travel industry stakeholders agree, saying immigration rules are discouraging Vietnamese from visiting at a time when the city is trying to bolster ties with Southeast Asia as part of its post-pandemic recovery efforts.