Did you know that Malaysians make up one of the most travellers to Hong Kong annually? In fact, 225,304 Malaysians travelled to the special administrative region from January to August 2024, the 10th highest nationality on the list.
For Malaysians who have travelled to Hong Kong before, you’d know that the autonomous region’s immigration enforced a rather troublesome requirement in the form of arrival and departure cards.
If you’re not familiar, those who didn’t register for Hong Kong’s Automated Immigration Clearance (e-Channel) have to fill out and hold on to paper arrival and departure cards when visiting Hong Kong.
Malaysians travelling to Hong Kong are no longer required to fill out arrival and departure cards
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Well, we’ve got some good news for Malaysians planning to travel to Hong Kong, as the special administrative region has officially scrapped the arrival and departure card requirement for visitors!
Implemented since 16 October 2024, the Hong Kong Immigration Department announced that all visitors are no longer required to complete and furnish arrival or departure cards when passing through immigration clearance points.
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This is in sharp contrast to most countries, including Malaysia’s, requirements for foreign tourists, whereby all international visitors must fill out a digital form to be allowed entry.
For context, foreign tourists must fill out the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) if they’re travelling to our country.
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The same requirement is also in place in other countries such as New Zealand, Singapore and recently, Thailand also announced a similar plan.
As for Hong Kong, its Immigration Department said that the scrapping of arrival and departure card requirements was meant to simplify the entry process for travellers.
It’s even simpler if you sign up for the nation’s e-Channel system, which you can find out more about here.
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So, what do you guys think of Hong Kong’s simplified entry process for foreign tourists? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
