A social media post by an Indian traveller has caught the internet’s attention after he claimed that Hong Kong immigration officials detained 4 men from his group and questioned them about their travel plans, jobs and finances while they were entering the city from Macau. But one of the questions that stood out was how all 4 families had managed to get leave from work and travel together.
In a post on X, user @kpthakershy said that all 4 male members of their group were stopped by immigration authorities at the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau (HZM) Port while travelling from Macau to Hong Kong. “Made to sit for Half an hr & one of us were asked about our work, itinerary, income etc also asked how did all 4 families managed to travel together and get leave,” he wrote.
In a separate post. Priyesh Sharma, who was travelling with @kpthakershy, wrote, “Perks of our passport! Be careful guys HK has been a crazy country when it comes to immigration for us.”
(Also Read: Delhi airport immigration clears US woman but briefly stops her husband: ‘Not sure what happened’)
Social media reactions
The posts quickly drew reactions from other Indian travellers, many of whom shared similar experiences at Hong Kong immigration checkpoints.
“I was stopped at HK port last year when I was coming back from Macau to HK via a ferry. Immigration officer just checked my hotel reservations so o showed my Airbnb app. He made notes of it and let me off within 15 minutes as everything was authentic. I was aware of Indian nationals being detained frequently so it wasn’t a tense moment for me,” one user commented.
Another recalled being questioned for over an hour while travelling alone. “I remember the first time I went to HK. I was sleep deprived but grilled for 1+ hour because ‘No one goes to Disneyland alone.’ They let me go because I had a proper online presence. They pulled my LinkedIn, twitter, instagram, etc and only then let me go,” the user wrote.
A third traveller said he faced similar questioning in 2023 while travelling from Macau to Hong Kong Airport. “I faced the same thing in 2023. I took a bus from Macau to HK Airport, and had a flight in the next 4 hours. They allowed my wife to go but I was taken into the room for questioning. However, no one was rude and they followed a normal queue for waiting,” he said.
In the comments section, @kpthakershy also claimed that around 20 Indians were waiting in a holding room during his visit, including some passengers who had flights departing within a few hours. “Almost 20 odd Indians were there in the room and made to wait.. Four of them were actually flying back to india and had a flight in next 4 hours and yet got detained as they came from Macau to HZM,” he wrote.
