The Macau government announced yesterday that it has finished drafting a bill amending the law on the Non-mandatory Central Provident Fund system and also amending the law on the social security system, enabling those living in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin to be exempted from the 183-day minimum stay requirements listed in the two laws.
Secretary for Administration and Justice Wong Sio Chak and Social Security Fund (FSS) President Chan Pou Wan made the announcement during a press conference at Government Headquarters yesterday. Wong is also the spokesman for the government’s top advisory Executive Council.
The amendment bill will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) in due course for debate, review and vote.
According to the current version of the law on the Non-mandatory Central Provident Fund system, permanent local residents aged at least 22 who stay in Macau for at least 183 days a year are eligible to receive the government’s cash injection into their Central Provident Fund account in the subsequent year.
According to the law’s current version, those not staying in Macau because of certain special reasons can be exempted from the 183-day minimum stay requirement, such as studying for a degree, hospitalisation, seniors aged at least 65 living in the mainland, and working outside Macau because of the need to support their family members in Macau.
Similarly, according to the current version of the law on the social security system, self-employed Macau residents are only eligible to register to pay their contributions (dues) if they stay in Macau for at least 183 days a year.
Similarly, self-employed Macau residents who are not in Macau because of the special reasons mentioned above can be exempted from the 183-day minimum stay requirement.
Macau’s social security system only covers local residents, both permanent and non-permanent.
According to the current versions of the two laws, those who do not stay in Macau for humanitarian reasons or other duly substantiated reasons can also be exempted from the 183-day minimum stay requirement, in which case it will be the chief executive who decides whether to approve the respective application after consulting FSS officials.
The Macau government rolled out a measure in early 2024 enabling those living in Hengqin to be exempted from the 183-day minimum stay requirement listed in the two laws, by allowing them to submit their applications to the Social Security Fund requesting that they be exempted from the stay requirement due to “other duly substantiated reasons” listed by the two laws.
The amendment bill announced yesterday aims to enable those living in Hengqin to be formally and legally exempted from the 183-day minimum stay requirement listed in the two laws in the future.
According to Wong and Chan, the amendment bill proposes to add one more reason for exemption from the 183-day minimum stay requirement in the two laws, namely those working in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, or studying there either for a higher education degree or being enrolled in a school, or merely living there.
Chan noted that if the amendment bill is passed by the legislature in its final reading, the amended versions of the two laws will enable the Social Security Fund to directly assess applications submitted by those living in Hengqin for exemptions from the 183-day minimum stay requirement, a change from the current situation in which such applications must be passed to the chief executive for approval on a case-by-case basis.
Social Security Fund (FSS) President Chan Pou Wan (left) speaks during yesterday’s press conference at Government Headquarters as Secretary for Administration and Justice Wong Sio Chak, also the spokesman for the government’s top advisory Executive Council, looks on. – Photos: Tony Wong
This file photo taken in November last year shows part of the Hengqin Huafa Mall.
