The Immigration Department announced today that the Smart Renewal service will be expanded from July 20 to facilitate applications for visas for foreign domestic helpers (FDHs).

Introduced on March 5, the Smart Renewal service initially applied to online applications for visas for further employment of FDHs, but will be extended to applications submitted by post or drop-in box.

As at the end of June, over 21,500 applicants for visas for further employment of FDHs paid their visa fees and collected their visa labels through the service. The proportion of online submissions nearly doubled from before the service's launch to almost 30%.

In view of the positive response to the service, the department decided to expand it to cover all applications of the same category received on or after July 20, be they submitted online, by post or drop-in box.

People who submit visa applications can, upon approval of their applications, pay the visa fee with the General Demand Note enclosed with the notification of the application result.

Payment can be made by various means, such as the Faster Payment System, Internet banking, the Payment by Phone Service, automatic teller machines, or in person at a post office or convenience store.

A webpage has been set up to provide details of the service and combine the links for helper-related online services.

Call 2824 6111, fax to 2877 7711 or send an email to enquiry@immd.gov.hk for enquiries.