Hong Kong’s Immigration Department has moved quickly to scale up consular assistance for hundreds of SAR residents caught in the sudden closure of Gulf airspace after the latest Iran-Israel hostilities. Director of Immigration Benson Kwok visited the 1868 Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit on the evening of 5 March to thank officers and announce that the command centre’s headcount has been doubled to handle an unprecedented surge in calls.

Since the conflict flared late last week, the department has fielded enquiries on flight rerouting, visa validity and emergency documentation from Hong Kongers scattered across the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. Officers are working around the clock with Chinese embassies, local regulators and international airlines to confirm transit options as fragmented air-traffic corridors gradually reopen.

For Hong Kong travellers navigating these volatile circumstances, services like VisaHQ can alleviate much of the stress. The platform’s Hong Kong portal (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) provides up-to-date visa requirements, expedited processing options and live support, letting residents secure replacement documents or alternative transit visas in minutes rather than hours.

The hotline team’s priority is to secure confirmed seats for travellers whose original tickets were voided when carriers suspended Gulf operations. They also arrange urgent travel documents for those whose passports are held by tour operators or employers and provide real-time security assessments for people considering overland routes to alternative airports.

Kwok stressed that the expanded unit would remain in place until “every resident who wishes to return has a viable itinerary.” He urged employers to remind assignees to register their whereabouts on the department’s online locator before departure so officials can push travel alerts directly to mobile devices.

For global mobility managers, the episode is a reminder to update evacuation and duty-of-care protocols that cover family dependants, short-term assignees and business travellers—not only permanent staff. Companies with talent based in Dubai’s regional hubs are already reviewing split-site work models and alternate routing via Mumbai or Istanbul to avoid future chokepoints.