Applications begin for new Mainland Travel Permits

Applications by non-Chinese permanent residents of Macao for Mainland Travel Permits began yesterday at the China Travel Service (CTS), which has set up four dedicated counters for the procedure. 

Applicants spoken to by Macau Post Daily described the process as smooth and said that it took roughly 20 minutes to complete.

CTS official Conny Chan told media that some 400 foreign permanent residents had so far made appointments to get the permits, which allow holders to travel to China without a visa for periods of 90 days, subject to conditions.

[See more: What to know about the Mainland Travel Permit for non-Chinese permanent residents of Macao and Hong Kong]

She added that around 100 appointments a day are being accepted and that processing time for issuing of the permits was around 20 days.

The first applicant in line yesterday was Henrique Saldanha, a lawyer and Portuguese national who has been living in Macau for 42 years. He told reporters that the new permit was “a plus in terms of my chances of getting to know [mainland] China better.”

Until the introduction of the permit scheme, most of Macao’s 19,500 foreign permanent residents could only travel to the mainland after obtaining entry visas.