HONG KONG - The Immigration Department of Hong Kong announced Monday that a non-stamping immigration clearance arrangement for visitors would be implemented on March 19.

Upon implementation, all arriving visitors at immigration control points will be issued with landing slips in lieu of stamping in their travel documents. Upon departure, no slip will be issued and the travel documents will not be stamped.

The landing slip is the same as that currently issued to Macao Smart Permanent Identity Card holders and Taiwan residents traveling under the Pre-arrival Registration arrangement. It bears the visitor's English name, travel document number, arrival date, conditions and limit of stay in Hong Kong.

A spokesman for the department said "Non-stamping immigration clearance can provide more efficient services to visitors and simplify the immigration clearance procedure to help facilitate the smooth flow of passengers at immigration control points."