Information on statutory inspections conducted by the Registrar of Births and Deaths
Dear Immigration Department,
The Immigration Department being responsible for the duties of the Registrar of Births and Deaths, and Section 6 of the Births and Deaths Ordinance mandating that the Registrar or deputy registrar should visit each district registry office and inspect the register books, etc. "from time to time and as often as may be necessary", I would like to have the following information concerning such inspection activities conducted by or on behalf of the Registrar provided to me in accordance with the Code on Access to Information–
Relevant extracts from all relevant internal desk instructions, operational manuals, or guidelines which outline the standard procedure for the Registrar to fulfil this statutory obligation;
Any document or list detailing the standard operational items that inspecting officers are directed to review during such visits;
The total number of such inspection visits conducted by the Registrar or a deputy registrar to district registry offices every year (dating back as far as you have these records);
Where available, the total number of inspections split by registry category (e.g., Births Registries vs. Deaths Registries) over the same periods;
Any other information or records (e.g., instructions) which relate to the conducting of such inspection activities in recent or modern times.
I would really appreciate this information (especially the numbers) being presented in an electronic format (ie. PDF or Excel) rather than HTML tabular form as I cannot view this properly.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours faithfully,
James A. Wilson
Application reference no: (37) in ImmD BDM(S) 6-5/2/1 Pt. 162
Dear Sir / Madam,
Thank you for your application received on 18-08-2026.
Please be informed that your application is under active processing, and
we will inform you the result in due course.
Should you have any enquiries, please contact the undersigned at 2829
3582. Thank you.
Best regards,
Mr. HN CHIM
for Registrar of Births and Deaths
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Dear Sir/Madam,
Thank you for your request for information submitted under the Code on
Access to Information dated 18.08.2026 in relation to the statutory
inspections conducted by the Registrar of Births and Deaths. Further to
our interim reply dated 26.08.2026, please find below the substantive
reply.
Section 6 of the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance, Chapter 174,
Laws of Hong Kong provides that “from time to time and as often as may be
necessary the Registrar or a deputy registrar shall visit each district
registry office to inspect the register books, register forms (signed or
unsigned), and other documents kept at that office and confer with the
district registrar as to the facts regarding registration in his
district”. Please note that the deputy registrars of Immigration
Department (ImmD) conduct such visits according to the statutory
requirements to inspect the items mentioned under the provision on a
random and as required basis having regard to operational needs and
prevailing circumstances. In fact, each births/deaths registry is
currently under the supervision of at least one deputy registrar.
As these visits have been involved in the daily operations of the
births/deaths registries of ImmD, no separate statistical figures are
maintained on the number of visits conducted each year, nor any breakdown
by registry category.
Should you require further information, please feel free to contact the
undersigned at 2829 3582.
Best regards,
Mr. HN CHIM
for Registrar of Births and Deaths