Hong Kong warns students over using fake credentials to enter universities

Supplying false information to immigration is a crime, No 2 official says, as city prepares to make global ‘Study in Hong Kong’ push

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The University of Hong Kong campus in Pokfulam. Its business school said in July about 30 master’s degree students had been caught using fake documents for their enrolment. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 9:33pm, 18 Oct 2024Updated: 11:01pm, 18 Oct 2024

Hong Kong’s No 2 official has warned that using fake academic credentials to gain admission to local universities is a crime that can lead to jail time and convicted offenders may find it “very difficult” to enter the city later.

Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki also stressed on Friday that the government would thoroughly investigate all applications submitted by suspicious agencies assisting students with enrolment.

Chan’s warning came after city leader John Lee Ka-chiu announced in his policy address that the government would establish the “Study in Hong Kong” brand in a bid to attract more overseas students, especially ones from members of the Asean bloc and Beijing’s “belt and road’ trade network.

Speaking to the press, Chan stressed that furnishing false information to the government was a serious crime, and he warned applicants to avoid taking risks as offenders would face serious consequences.

“Once we have sufficient evidence to prosecute and they have been found guilty afterwards, their academic qualifications will be revoked,” he said. “Due to the record of conviction, it could be very difficult for them to come to Hong Kong again, even for travelling.”

Applicants seeking help from agents to enrol in university programmes should not have any reason for failing to know whether the credentials they were listing were genuine or not, he added.