Background

To ensure beneficiaries maintain a closer connection with Macao and to safeguard the proper use of public funds, beneficiaries must have resided in Macao for at least 183 days to qualify for enrolment in the Arbitrary System under the Social Security System and for government allocations under the Non-Mandatory Central Provident Fund System. 

One of the key focuses of this amendment is to clarify statutory exceptions for Macao residents in specific circumstances within the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin (hereinafter referred to as the “Cooperation Zone”). These include residing, working, or studying in tertiary or non-tertiary education courses recognised by the local competent authorities in the Cooperation Zone, as well as working outside Macao to bear the main living expenses of relatives residing in the Cooperation Zone. In such cases, time spent in the Cooperation Zone will be deemed equivalent to time spent in Macao for the purposes of assessing the above-mentioned social security entitlements. 

The scope of medical certification required for applications for sickness allowance under the Social Security System has been extended to cover medical practitioners in the Cooperation Zone.