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This post will provide an overview of the various visa options available, helping you navigate the complexities of visa regulations and ensuring a smooth transition into your next chapter in Hong Kong.

QUESTION

“I have been working in HK since 2007 on a working visa, which expired in August 2012. Is there any legal status that I can apply for, except getting another job in HK or investing HK10m, to extend my past 5 years so that I can apply for a permanent residency in HK in 2 years time?

I travel often to other countries but I have been practically living in HK and renting an apartment since 1997.  I hold a Canadian passport.   Currently I am here as a visitor.”

ANSWER

This is a very interesting question, but it’s also quite involved because it requires the essay of three particular visa categories that may be open for your consideration to assist you get back into residence visa permissions.

The three visa consents that you’re looking at applying under potentially, which don’t include getting an out and out employment visa,  or investing $10 million under the Capital Investment Entrance Scheme visa.

The only other three options are available to you are the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme programme (QMAS), dependent visa, or in fact a business investment visa. Just dealing with these programmes very quickly.

The Quality Migrant Admission Scheme programme could be available to you if you’re particularly well educated or very well accomplished in your particular professional area of expertise.

The dependent visa could be that if you were in a loving, committed relationship with a resident of Hong Kong, and you’re not presently married, obviously, then you could make an application for a dependent visa and that would give you the residence permissions that you’re needing to continue your residence here.

Thirdly, if you are entrepreneurial in spirit and you’ve got a modicum of funds to invest in, you can show that you can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong, you could consider an application for a business investment visa.

So those are effectively your options to bring your existing visitor visa into regularisation with a residence visa consent. And then we just need to deal with the issue about the impact that all of this, will have on your subsequent application after you’ve been here for seven years for a permanent residency status, getting a permanent identity card in the process.

The more time you spend as a visitor without taking any steps towards regularising your residence visa, will after the fact, count against you for the continuation of your ordinary residency. However, if you’re able to quickly get a new application into the system and subsequently go on to have that application approved, no matter how long it takes, then that time spent as a visitor should not count against your continuous ordinary residence; and I mention this particularly because the QMAS programme will take so five to seven months to complete. The Business Investment Visa application will take three to four months to complete. And a dependent visa is real, just an administrative exercise, so it only takes three or four weeks for that process to play itself out.

So there is a consideration that you need to bring into play as to what the most realistic way of getting status is available to you and how fast it will be for you to be able to bring your current tourist visa into  residence visa status.

Okay, I hope that helps.

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