Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

Why Do The Immigration Department Prefer A Limited Liability Company To Underpin A Hong Kong Investment Visa Application?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Hadley Says…, Investment Visas / 4 responses

This post deals with the reasons why the Immigration Department favors limited liability companies in the process of Hong Kong investment visa applications.

Conceptually, it is possible to promote an application for a Hong Kong investment visa if you have entered into either a partnership at will or a sole proprietorship business in the HKSAR.

But what the Hong Kong Immigration Department make of this is arguably not going to do your case any favours!

You see, the Immigration Department systems are geared towards the Hong Kong incorporated limited liability company as the preferred business vehicle for your time spent in Hong Kong as a business investment visa holding foreign entrepreneur.

Indeed, all of their standard communications and documentary requisition lists detail the exact papers availed when your business has been duly established as a limited liability company here.

Even though establishing a sole proprietorship or partnership at will is just a simple matter of applying (and paying) for a Business Registration Certificate issued by the Inland Revenue Department, by not formally incorporating your business in Hong Kong, you are sending a message to the Department about your level of sophistication as you prepare to undergo your act of investment here.

The Hong Kong Immigration Department might conclude that you’re simply trying to do business ‘on the cheap’ – which is the antithesis of what the they expect to see when considering an investment visa application.

Remember, businesses on a shoe string struggle to get approved.

If you can’t afford to incorporate, the question really is begged, as to whether you’ll actually get an investment visa after all.

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I Will Only Be Working In Hong Kong For 6 Weeks – Should I Bother Getting An Employment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says… / 3 responses

Hong Kong immigration law is very clear about the need for foreign nationals to secure permission to work in Hong Kong via applying for an employment visa.

If you intend to come here to take up employment, paid or unpaid, for long or short duration, for a local or an overseas employer, you need to secure the consent of the Director of Immigration.

This means that you have to make an application for an employment visa, before you arrive in Hong Kong to commence the employment.

The Hong Kong Immigration Department are very familiar with the need for foreigners requiring such short term temporary employment visa consents and will work earnestly with you to try to finalise such applications as quickly as possible, even anticipating round-pegs-in-square-holes quirks over such issues as a valid sponsor and the employing entity.

So, whilst most foreign nationals secure a 90 day or even a 180 day visitor visa upon arrival in Hong Kong, undertaking  any work  on such a visitor visa will be a breach of your conditions of stay and will make you, and other  person party to such an employment, vulnerable to prosecution for a breach of conditions of stay.

There’s no need to be concerned about getting the employment  visa so don’t be hesitant (or lazy) in applying.

Start the process at least  4 weeks before you’re due to arrive, fully disclose your intentions and objectives and let the HKID take a view and ensure that you’re compliant with Hong Kong law whilst you’re on the job here.

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What Visa Category Do You Think You Need For Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Special Programmes / 11 responses

Choosing the Right Visa Category: What You Need to Know Before Applying for Visa in Hong Kong

It is important to understand that Hong Kong is quite different, from an immigration perspective, than most other jurisdictions as residence visas are only available to foreign nationals to accommodate their specific reason for wishing to live in Hong Kong.

There are no ‘quality of life’ immigration programmes here like there are in countries such as New Zealand, the UK, Australia or Canada that allow you to apply for temporary or permanent residence simply because you like the place.

So, if you want to secure a visa for Hong Kong you need a rationale – and then you apply for a visa to pursue that rationale.

For example, if you wish to study, you apply for a student visa.

If you wish to take up employment, you need an employment visa – and a job offer before you make an application.

If you want to establish or join in a business, you need an investment visa.

If you wish to passively invest, you use the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme or if you believe you are a top notch talent you can apply under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme.

If you’re here to join your immediately family, you secure a dependant visa.

And so on….

Consequently, your immigration options in Hong Kong are quite limited and are anchored squarely to the specific rationale.

There really is no visa type that is catch-all or ‘best suited’ to you. At the end of the day, you have to decide why it is that you wish to be in Hong Kong, and apply for the exact visa that correlates with that rationale.

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How Can A Foreign National Permanent Resident Of Hong Kong Get A HKSAR Passport?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Hadley Says…, Long Stay & PR / 53 responses

The HKSAR passport is an excellent travel document affording visa free privileges to travel to and visit some 150 countries worldwide.

If you are a foreign national permanent resident of Hong Kong you can consider, if you so desire, applying for a HKSAR passport, usually if your present country of origin does not offer you a convenient means to travel, needing visas for most any place that you might like to visit on a regular basis.

In order to do this you must first naturalize as a Chinese citizen and in the process relinquish your current citizenship as Chinese nationality law does not recognize dual nationality.

Broadly speaking, becoming a Chinese citizen means that you have to have some connection to China, possibly via marriage or an ability to speak Chinese, possibly own a business on the Mainland or have property there or in Hong Kong.

The rules are not hard and fast and very many non-ethnic Chinese applicants have been successful in their applications and so it is certainly worthwhile giving it a shot if Hong Kong is very much the only place you can possibly now call home.

There are mechanisms in place such that you do not find yourself stateless, giving up your current nationality before having Chinese nationality confirmed, and the process involves both the Hong Kong Immigration Department nd also the consulate of your current nationality.

Changing nationality is a serious matter and should not be pursued lightly.

However, once your Chinese citizenship is conferred, your ability to secure a HKSAR passport is a right afforded  by law and the process of issuing the document is just a simple application exercise.

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What Do You Need To Do If There Has Been A Change In The Details Of Your Hong Kong Employment Visa Sponsor But No Change In Your Employer?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas / 3 responses

Important Steps to Take When Your Hong Kong Employment Visa Details Change

Sometimes, though not very often, the corporate entity sponsoring an employment visa for a foreign national employee working in Hong Kong, may undergo a reorganisation or a repositioning in relation to its operations here and, consequently, it can be no longer said that the party serving as the sponsor of the original visa permissions, is the party that is actively engaging the services of the employee nor indeed (possibly) even carrying on a business in the HKSAR any longer.

An example of this could be where a foreign company sets up an entirely new commercial operation in Hong Kong and transfers an employee from their overseas business to oversee their market entry activities here.

As part of this exercise, the company will have applied for and secured an employment visa for their inter-company transferee staff and the business is now well and truly off to the races.

However, soon after, the advisors in the home country realize that the manner in which the Hong Kong entity has been established is not advantageous for taxation purposes and seek to reconfigure the international group structure before the business goes too far down the commercial path it is treading.

Consequently, they decide to incorporate a new, alternate Hong Kong entity, owned and configured in a fashion that is different from that disclosed to the Hong Kong Immigration Department at the time that its bona fides as a suitable sponsor for foreign national employment visa permissions was being established when the inter company transferee visa approval was granted to their first staff in Hong Kong.

In this situation, the employee and employer have an obligation to report these material change in circumstances to the Immigration Department and, in the process, undergo what is known as a Technical Change of Sponsorship application.

This requires the employer and the employee reporting the facts of what has gone on corporately, submitting information setting out the details of the change in sponsoring entity and also evidence that, for all practical purposes, the terms and conditions of the sponsored employee’s employment in Hong Kong have not changed at all as a result of this international corporate reconfiguration.

This type of application usually takes 3-4 weeks to finalise and is processed via the Resident’s section on the 5^th floor of Immigration Tower down in Wanchai.

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What Happens If You Inadvertently Breach Your Conditions Of Stay By Taking Up An Unauthorised Employment In Hong Kong Without First Applying For A Change Of Sponsorship?

How Can An Overseas Company Temporarily Sponsor Employment Visa Permissions For Hong Kong?

How Onerous Is The Sponsorship Role In A Hong Kong Investment Visa Application?

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Work Ended – What Visa Options Do You Have To Stay In Hong Kong For Another 2 Years To Get Your Permanent Residency?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Family Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Special Programmes, Your Question Answered / 5 responses

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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The Merits Of Applying For A Reconsideration Of A Refused Hong Kong Visa Application

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Refusals & Appeals / 8 responses

In this post, we will explore the advantages of pursuing a reconsideration application, highlighting how a well-prepared case can address the concerns raised by immigration authorities and enhance the likelihood of a favorable outcome.

The saying goes that a lawyer who represents himself in court has a fool for a client.

The same could be said for a refused visa applicant who remains serious about his residence prospects for Hong Kong in the wake of the HKID refusing his application for immigration status here.

Why do I say this?

A Reconsideration application is an appeal and consequently an uphill struggle.

If you were not successful the first time around, you have to ask yourself if you have what it takes to get it right if you have second run at it.

Making a request for Reconsideration is a big step and there is a lot at stake. You can have only one proper go at it so you need to get it right.

Do you have a strong sense of what has gone wrong or are you actually just being driven by the emotion of disappointment?

The application calls for new and previously unsubmitted information which has come to light since the time your refusal was notified to you.

Do you really have this lined up, do you appreciate its strength and do you know how to use it to articulate your augmented story – and actually, is it compelling enough?

Are you too close to this application that you are not being objective? Have you considered, instead, moving past this refusal and going on to progress an alternate application based on revised plans for your life in light of the fact that the HKID are not presently buying into your rationale for you wishing to remain in Hong Kong on the terms enunciated in your refused application?

Have you prepared yourself for another refusal and all that this would entail for you?

It is important to remember that, as a foreign national, especially if you are here as a visitor, you are using the resources of the HKID each time you make an application down at  Immigration Tower.

And with the official fees being as modest as they are, how realistic are you in expecting the HKID to continue to pour resources into your application when they have given full and due consideration to your Original case and found it wanting?

These, and quite few other considerations, are in play in deciding whether to apply for a Reconsideration or not.

So please decide wisely. You only get one good shot. Do you really want to do it yourself?

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