Less residents in the SAR

The total number of applications for temporary residency in 2016 fell by 1,693 compared with the previous year, according to data from the Macao Trade and Investment Institute (IPIM). Total applications during the year hit 2,017.
Total applications approved during the year amounted to 2,123, a drop of 1,222 or 36.5 per cent when compared with 2015.
By segment, a total of 305 applications for temporary residency for managerial personnel, and technical and professional qualification holders were received, a decrease of 177 applications year-on-year. Of this group, a total of 99 were approved during the year, an 18-case increase when compared to the previous year.
These types of applications for residency accounted for 91.7 per cent of the total 329 new applications in the year.
The other 7.29 per cent were applications for temporary residency on the basis of major investment and major investment plans, totalling 24 applications, a decrease of 55 cases or nearly 70 per cent from a year earlier. Only four investment-based applications were approved in 2016, a decrease of three from 2015.
Applications for the renewal of temporary residency status hit 1,610, a 46 per cent year-on-year drop, while the number of applications approved totalled 1,890, a 39 per cent fall from the year before.
In 2016 there were 78 extension applications for family members, down from 91 applications registered in 2015. The number of temporary residency status granted to family members last year totalled 130 cases, 30 less approvals than in 2015.