Important notes about temporary residency applications

Applicants should carefully read the content of the Guidelines and collect all necessary documents prior to submitting the application; failure to submit crucial documents may result in the application procedure having to be restarted. Moreover, applicants should complete the application form in written or typed block letters, and ensure that all information provided is true and accurate, or otherwise the applicant will be deemed guilty of making a false declaration and be criminally liable.
Family dependents are not qualified apply and all applications must be made by the applicant himself/herself, and all forms of personal information of the family dependents must be verified with the applicant’s signature.
The official languages of the Macao SAR are Chinese and Portuguese, and therefore all documents submitted must be in the Chinese or Portuguese language. Documents in any other languages must be translated into Chinese or Portuguese and certified/notarised by nationally/regionally credible entities (embassy of country/region). Documents originally written in English are also acceptable.
According to the law, interested parties will be granted a renewable temporary residency permit valid for a maximum of three years once the temporary residency application has been approved. Under no circumstances shall the temporary residency permit remain valid beyond 30 days before the expiry date of the passport, travel document or entry, re-entry permit of other country/region held by the applicant.
The correspondence address provided by the applicant will be used for future contact and notification of the progress of the relevant application progress. Applicants should provide his/her correspondence address and contact number accurately and immediately notify IPIM of any changes to the contact information during the application process and the validity period of the temporary residency permit.
If there are reasonable grounds to suggest that the applicant is involved in making false a statement or falsifying documents, or other wrongful acts during the application procedures, IPIM will not make any decision on the relevant application until the wrongful acts have been deemed non-existent or rectified, without prejudice to all legal responsibilities borne by the applicant. In the event the application process is suspended for more than six months due to reason(s) attributable to the interested party (-ies), the empowered authority (-ies) can announce the termination of relevant procedure.
During the validity period of the temporary residency, applicants are required to maintain their legal status which is deemed crucial when the temporary residency approval was granted. If an applicant’s legal status has changed or terminated, or his/her identity status has been changed, this applicant must notify IPIM within 30 days from the change(s) and/or termination(s) take(s) place. Failing to fulfil the obligation to notify IPIM without reasonable explanation may result in revocation of temporary residency. The above changes to the identity status like divorce, change of de facto marriage, adoption of children; changes of grounds for application, such as a) renewal of employment contract, change of position/employer, downward revision of salary, being put on unpaid leave, or other changes for “management and technical with special qualifications”; b) status change of investment for temporary residency based on “major investment / major investment plan”; c) change of real estate ownership status, increase of mortgage, change in fixed deposit amounting to MOP 500,000 or above, change of investment in enterprises with no less than 51% shares.
According to Article 19 of the Administrative Regulation, applicants should submit to IPIM a renewal application within the first 60 days of the 90 days before the expiration of the temporary residency. Otherwise, based on Paragraph 1 under Article 20 of the Administrative Regulation, the temporary residency permits will become invalid if the applicants do not submit a renewal application before deadline. However, in order to handle the renewal applications in an orderly manner, applicants may enquire about the renewal procedure and arrangement in person at IPIM or on the phone within six months before the expiration of temporary residency permit.
In order to verify whether the crucial legal status of the applicant and/or his/her family dependents is remained as it was at the time the approval was granted throughout the validity period of the residency permit, the applicant and/or his/her family dependents, in accordance with the ” Residency Regime for Investors, Management and Technical Personnel”, must apply for a Declaration of Confirmation from IPIM before applying for the Macao SAR Permanent Resident Identity Card at the Identification Bureau after having resided in Macao SAR for at least seven consecutive years (details of the application formalities are available on IPIM’s official website).
All personal information applicants and interested parties give to IPIM will be used only for the purpose of handling temporary residency applications. IPIM shall legally send the information to permitted departments or judiciary organs if needed. IPIM shall also manage and protect applicants’ personal data pursuant to the regulations in Law no.8/2005 – Personal Data Protection Act. In the light of Macao’s law, applicants may file a request with IPIM to access and amend personal data.
It must be emphasised that an applicant must maintain the legal status crucial to the approval of the temporary residency if his/her family dependent(s) has/have not resided in Macao for seven consecutive years, even though the applicant has already obtained a permanent identity cared of the Macao SAR. Failing to fulfil this obligation will bring about disadvantages to the temporary residency for family dependent(s).
In the light of Item (3) of Paragraph 2 under Article 43 of Law No 16/2021, enabled by Article 23 of Administrative Regulation No 3/2005, when a residency holder stops living in the Macao SAR as an ordinary resident, or no longer meets the requirements or prerequisites for having residency, the Chief Executive shall issue dispatch to terminate/revoke the relevant residency permit.