6. RECEIVE APPEAL DECISION

The Appeal Board will decide whether to grant you protection in Hong Kong and send you a written decision.

If you had an oral hearing, the decision will be made after the hearing. It can take a long time (usually between 3-6 months from the date of your hearing) to receive the decision, but often it can take much longer.

If your appeal is successful, you will be granted Non-Refoulement Protection. This means that you will not be returned to your home country. The Immigration Department will write to you to confirm your claim has been substantiated. They will refer you to the UNHCR for resettlement or alternative durable solutions, so that you may be able to move to another country.

If your appeal is dismissed, the Immigration Department can detain and remove you from Hong Kong.

If your appeal is unsuccessful and you do not agree with the decision, you can make an application to the High Court for leave to apply for Judicial Review. You should do this as soon as possible, but not later than 3 months of the date of the appeal decision. Once you have made a Judicial Review application, the Immigration Department will not remove you until that application has been decided by the High Court.

Making a Judicial Review application

To make a Judicial Review application, you will need to fill out some forms and pay a fee of HKD $1,045 to the High Court. The Resource Centre for Unrepresented Litigants located at the High Court can provide you with the correct forms and give you information about where to go to file your Judicial Review application.