Many Calcuttans planning to visit Hong Kong availing of a visa-free entry system are allegedly facing rejections, making their travel schedule go haywire.
One can enter Hong Kong without a visa if she has pre-arrival registration, for which applicants are not charged any money.
However, there are widespread allegations that if an entire family applies for pre-arrival registration, some members are getting the approval and some are not.
Travel agents said those applying from other cities are not facing such rejections. The pre-arrival registration, an automated system of online applications, for entry to Hong Kong was introduced for Indians in January 2017.
Since then, there have been many rejections and tour operators said the problem has not been resolved.
A Calcutta-based businessman was planning to visit Hong Kong with his wife and daughter last September and again in March this year. The businessman's son works in Hong Kong.
“On both occasions, all three of us applied online for pre-arrival registration. While my daughter’s application was approved, my wife's and mine were rejected,” said the businessman, who did not want to be named. “But it was not possible for my daughter to travel alone."
Finally, they applied for a visa.
“It took more than a month for the visas to arrive. The visas were valid for single entry and seven days. We had to rebook our tickets and will travel in May,” he said.
A few months back, Manisha Kailash Samtaney and her daughter Meghna had planned to visit Hong Kong and the Philippines.
“We wanted to visit my sister, who stays in Hong Kong. I requested our travel agent to get the pre-arrival registration. While my application was approved, my daughter’s was rejected,” said Manisha.
Then her sister helped them get visas by applying online.
Businessman Satyajit Burman faced similar problems when his daughter Shivika, a tennis player, had to visit Hong Kong to appear in an examination.
“The pre-arrival registration application was rejected thrice. There was no way to know the reason for such rejections,” said Burman. After calling the Hong Kong immigration authorities several times and writing a mail, she finally got a visa, Burman said.
“My daughter suffered from mental trauma because of the uncertainty,” he said.
Metro sent a mail to the Hong Kong Tourism Board seeking to know the reason for the rejection of so many applications for pre-arrival registration. There was no reply till Monday night.
Tour operators in Calcutta said the number of rejections was "very high" for applicants from certain places, including "Calcutta, Hyderabad and Punjab".
“Eight out of 10 applications for pre-arrival registration from Calcutta are rejected on an average. Our counterparts in Hyderabad and Punjab have said they are facing a similar problem," said Anil Punjabi, national committee member of the Travel Agents Federation of India, representing the eastern region.
“The problem has persisted since the launch of the pre-arrival registration system. It has become more severe now. Many clients often hold us responsible (for the rejection of applications)," he said.
Tour operators said pre-arrival registration for Indian nationals is free and instant. One with such a registration can stay in Hong Kong for up to 14 days.
However, for a visa, one has to pay 230 Hong Kong dollars, or around Rs 2,500. It takes about a month for the visa to arrive, tour operators said.