Since the Public Security Authority in Mainland announced the “Guidance Notes on Application for Adult Children of Macao Residents in Mainland to Enter Macao for Residence” (hereinafter called “Guidance Notes”) in 2009, the public in Macao from different areas have been showing welcome and appreciation. Nevertheless, different requests were made by some of the Macao residents regarding reunion with their Mainland relatives. They mainly request the SAR Government to recognize their Macao resident status during the time of possessing “Temporary Stay Permit” before obtaining their Macao Resident Card, and to issue a certificate to have their children in Mainland included under the scope of “Adult Children”. In pursuant to the stipulation of Article 22 of the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, Mainland residents entering Macao for residence is governed by the Central Government. The Central Government has clearly defined the principle and the scope to settle the issue of “Adult Children” of Macao residents. “Adult Children” refers to the Mainland-born children of Macao residents, who was qualified at the time of applying for family reunion but had become overage during the application process and whose application was declined due to such reason. The abovementioned “Guidance Notes” is framed in accordance with this definition. The SAR Government should enforce and cooperate in line with relevant policy measures of the Central Government. It should be noted that, in accordance with Article 4 (2) of Decree No.29/90/M which governs “Temporary Stay Permit”, the holders of “Temporary Stay Permit” are not recognized as residents. In pursuant to Article 4 (2) of Law No.8/1999 (“Law of Macao SAR Permanent Residents and Right of Abode”), persons who are only allowed to stay are not considered as residing in Macao and hence, their period of stay cannot be counted as ordinarily resident period. Therefore, the Mainland children of Macao residents who possessed “Temporary Stay Permit” and have made the abovementioned request were originally unable to fulfill the requirements for applying to reside in Macao and was not allowed to made such application in those years. As a result, they are not under the scope of “Adult Children” specified in the aforesaid “Guidance Notes”. The SAR Government believes that the issue of “Adult Children” has reached a reasonable and complete settlement. Any Mainland relatives of Macao residents who are not within the scope of “Adult Children” specified in the said “Guidance Notes” must make the application to reside in Macao according to the existing requirements of the Public Security Authority in Mainland.
