Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

Do You Need A Hong Kong Employment Visa If You Work For A Hong Kong Company But Not In Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Your Question Answered / 4 responses

Do the Hong Kong Immigration Department expect every foreign national employee of Hong Kong registered companies to have employment visas even if they have never worked (or never will work) in the HKSAR?

QUESTION

Is there any problem with a Hong Kong registered company employing someone currently resident in Malaysia for a role supporting one of our clients offices in Malaysia? 

I don’t think a Hong Kong employment visa is required because he won’t work here and in the short term at least he can work in Malaysia on a visitor visa as long as he is employed offshore.

ANSWER

Insofar as employment visa permissions for Hong Kong it’s very straightforward. The law says that any foreign national who intends to take up employment in Hong Kong, paid or unpaid, needs the permission of the director of immigration, which means that you need to have an employment visa for all practical purposes.

If a Hong Kong company on the other hand is planning to deploy staff into another jurisdiction to work in that jurisdiction, then it’s really the law of that jurisdiction that comes into play rather than the law of Hong Kong. If the employee is not going to be taking up employment in Hong Kong, no employment visa is needed, but if he goes to Malaysia and malaysian immigration law demands that he has an employment visa, then clearly he’s going to have to get an employment visa there and comply with the terms of malaysian immigration law. Now, I’m not entirely sure what malaysian law says about these things because it’s not my jurisdiction but I have a sneaking suspicion that they probably would have something to say about foreign national working on their soil without the requisite permission.

So it’s worthwhile really looking into that closely and not take anything for granted as such because there may be implications for the Hong Kong company who’s doing the deployment into Malaysia, and it could end up being that Hong Kong company gets itself in hot water with the malaysian immigration authorities that could come back to haunt you.

So, insofar as Hong Kong goes now, don’t have to worry about it. But I’d urge you to check out carefully the requisite immigration laws in Malaysia to make sure that you’re not inadvertently falling foul of the way that immigration in Malaysia is practised to. Okay, all the very best with this.

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What Will The Immigration Department Make Of A Third Party Objection To An Application For A Hong Kong Investment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Your Question Answered / 4 responses

Objection to an application for a Hong Kong investment visa? Revenge is a dish best eaten cold, as they say.

So, can an application for a Hong Kong investment visa be negatively impacted by the fact of a debt outstanding to a disgruntled creditor – or can it at least be used as a point of leverage  to get the errant debtor to stump up.  Hmm…

QUESTION

I was the largest creditor of a limited company established by a foreigner director here in Hong Kong whom is the managing director cum substantial shareholder of that company.

My loan to him has been defaulted for 1 whole year period. Recently, I found out that he is in the process of submitting his investment visa application by using this limited company’s business operations and company’s financial accounts.

Being a creditor of his limited company,  can I sue a director of a limited company, and fail him from getting his  investment visa?

ANSWER

This is a great question, and I’m glad you asked. Over the past 20 years, I’ve been asked about the Immigration Department’s criteria for investment visa applications several times, and my response has always been the same. The department must consider all available information when applying the approvability test for any foreign national applying for a visa. The key requirements are that the applicant makes a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong and that there are no security objections to granting them residence. If an applicant is a debtor related to their business, the Immigration Department will likely want to understand the full context affecting the business’s ability to implement its plan. It’s unrealistic to expect the Immigration Department to simply accept a letter from an unhappy creditor and take that at face value. They have a duty to consider all facts and circumstances. If this individual owes you a significant amount, the best course of action is to pursue litigation to recover the debt. Once you initiate these proceedings, inform the Immigration Department, including any defenses the other party presents. This will provide them with a complete picture of the situation. What the Immigration Department will deduce from this is hard to predict. However, pursuing legal action and informing them may encourage the debtor to take your claims more seriously than before. While I won’t make specific recommendations, this approach could lead to a more favorable outcome for you. Just remember, don’t expect the Immigration Department to side with you. It’s essential to assert your rights in court and keep the department informed about ongoing litigation. This is relevant to determining whether the business is a credible sponsor and if the individual can demonstrate a substantial economic contribution to Hong Kong without any security concerns. I hope this information is helpful!

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How Easy (Or Hard) Is It For A Second Foreign National Business Partner To Get A Hong Kong Investment Visa For An Unprofitable Company?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Your Question Answered / No responses

What will the Hong Kong Immigration Department make of an application for a second partner to join in an existing business and secure a business investment visa (or) Hong Kong investment visa for an unprofitable company – easy or hard?

QUESTION

My business partner is moving to Hong Kong soon.

Until this point, we had no need for him to be resident in Hong Kong but soon he will  play an active role in developing the European part of our business.

Our company has not yet turned a profit so I am wondering if it would be a problem when I make him a contract and apply for his working visa as the other shareholder and director of the company?

What can you suggest?

ANSWER

PODCAST ANSWER

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If I Am An Overseas Chinese And My Mother Holds A HKSAR Passport And A PHKID Card Do I Have The Right Of Abode In Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / 15 responses

The question of permanent residency in Hong Kong is one of the most complex areas of immigration practice and this question is helpful in that it speaks to the situation of ethnically Chinese foreign nationals with Hong Kong parentage.

QUESTION

“I am a mother of three children. I hold a Permanent Hong Kong Identity card as well as a HKSAR passport. My husband is Malaysian and I have lived there for the last 22 years. My eldest child was born in Hong Kong before we moved to Malaysia full time.  My two other children (a girl and a boy) were born in Malaysia. A few years ago I was able to secure a Permanent Hong Kong Identity Card for my eldest child and now I would like to do the same for my other 2 children. Can you tell me if they will qualify or not? Thank you!”

Thanks for your question. Can you please provide me with some further information as below:

How old are your 2 other children now?

“Daughter: 19 years old this year”

“Son: 11 years old this year”

What nationality were you when your children were born?

“Malaysia and Hong Kong”

What nationality are you now?

“Malaysia and Hong Kong”

What nationality are your children now?

“Malaysia”

Where do your children live now?

“Malaysia”

Have your children ever lived in Hong Kong before? If so, when and for how long?

“No”

Did they do any schooling here?

“No”

What year did you move back to Hong Kong from Malaysia?

“I am currently living in Malaysia, I’m just here for holiday”

What nationality is your husband?

“Malaysian”

Where does your husband live now?

“Malaysia”

ANSWER

In order to secure permanent Hong Kong identity cards, we must establish that your daughter and son are ‘permanent residents’ of Hong Kong.

A permanent resident of the HKSAR is defined under paragraph 2 of  Schedule 1 to the Immigration Ordinance. Here are the relevant sections:

2              … A person who is within one of the following categories is a permanent resident of the HKSAR….

(a)   A Chinese citizen born in Hong Kong.

(b)   A Chinese citizen who has ordinary resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 7 years.

(c)    A person of Chinese nationality born outside of Hong Kong to a parent who, at the time of birth of that person, was a Chinese citizen falling within Category (a) or (b).

(d)   …

“Chinese citizen” is defined under paragraph 1(1) of the Schedule 1 to the Immigration Ordinance.

“Chinese citizen” means a person of Chinese nationality under the Nationality Law of the PRC as implemented in the HKSAR pursuant to Article 18 of and Annex III to the Basic Law and interpreted in accordance with the Explanations of Some Question by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Cioncerning the Implementation of the Nationality Law of the PRC (‘CNL’) in the HKSAR adopted at the 19^th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress at the 8^th National People’s Congress on 15 May, 1996.

Article 5 of the CNL stipulates that:

“Any person born abroad who parents are Chinese nationals or one of whose parent is a Chinese national shall have Chinese nationality. But a person who parents are both Chinese nationals and have both settled abroad, or one of whose parents is a Chinese national and has settled abroad, and who has acquired foreign nationality at birth shall not have Chinese nationality.”

So, the crucial point in considering whether your daughter and son are permanent residents of Hong Kong for the purposes of getting Permanent Identity Cards is whether they were Chinese nationals at the time of their birth. Whether they are Chinese nationals or not therefore hinges on if you, their mother (who is a Chinese national), were settled abroad at the time of their birth.

From the information you have provided to me it appears that:

1 – You, their mother, are a Chinese national.

2 – At the time of the birth of your daughter and son you were settled abroad in Malaysia.

3 – Consequently, by operation of Chinese nationality law, your daughter and son are not Chinese nationals.

4 – Indeed, they acquired Malaysian nationality at the time of their birth.

5 – Consequently, as your children are not Chinese nationals they cannot be deemed permanent residents of Hong Kong by virtue of their relationship to you.

6 – Meaning, their application for Permanent Hong Kong Identity Cards is unlikely to be successful.

However, you will never know if you do not try.

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Can Elderly Parents Come To Live With Their Son Who Only Holds A Hong Kong Employment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Family Visas, Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / 6 responses

If you hold a Hong Kong employment visa, bringing elderly parents to join you in Hong Kong is an area of immigration practice that is fraught with difficulty – as well as uncertainty. Dependant visas are, as a matter of policy, not available for non permanent residents yet it’s a scenario that presents itself all too frequently. This question provides an opportunity to discuss the visa possibilities in this situation.

QUESTION

“Can my husband and I aged 70 and 71 join our, son a banker, whilst he holds a Hong Kong employment visa for approximately 2-4 years ?  We are UK citizens and have pensions. We would live with him and his family there.”

ANSWER

In Hong Kong, dependent visas are only available for spouses and unmarried children under the age of 18. For foreign nationals who are holding residence visas in Hong Kong, for example, if your son has an employment visa that’s classified as a residence visa, consequently, from the fact that I have your question, it would appear that your son is not going to be in a position to sponsor you for dependent visa permission, which is unfortunate.

On the other hand, you could, if you did have a proof of prior cohabitation (you were all living together before your son moved to Hong Kong), you could make an application for a prolonged visit either on exceptional grounds. This would give you a six-month period of stay extendable every six months and would facilitate easy access to Hong Kong and enter and exit from Hong Kong across the borders each time you decide to leave and come back again. This would obviate the difficulties of having to explain yourself to the borders officers and make it a very simple, easy way to join your family in the HKSAR. On that basis, if you were to progress a form visitor application, some would have to sponsor you and in that regard you’d have to assume all responsibility for your financial support, you’d have to show that you had a very good medical insurance policy and the fact you’ve got independent means is all to the good in respect of a prolonged visa visa application. But as I say, the necessary precondition is that you would have to show that you were living together as a family prior to his relocation to Hong Kong. And if that’s not in play, then it would be difficult for you to secure a prolonged visit visa from the department.

That said, you are UK citizens and in any event, you’re going to get 180 days, which is six months each time you present yourself as a visitor at the border.

So, in relation to the practical challenge of being able to be with your son and his family in Hong Kong, it seems to me that for a couple of years at least, if you were to make entries and exits from Hong Kong over those two years, make them on four or five separate occasions, I believe that you’d be able to actually spend the kind of time that you’d like to be spending together with your son and his family, even though it wouldn’t have you in Hong Kong as a resident per se, which would mean that you wouldn’t get a Hong Kong identity card, you wouldn’t be able to have access to the facilities, but in a very practical sense, you would have the opportunity to be together with your family.

So, in these circumstances, the Immigration Department are quite practical – they would see that your son is in Hong Kong, that you have an obvious need to spend time with him. And, I think because given that the Immigration Department deal very much in the area of discretion, you could take all your circumstances down to Immigration Department and effectively show to the Immigration Department what’s going on in your family lives and ask them to help you with the ability to stay in Hong Kong on an extended basis as visitor without actually going through the prolonged visitor visa application as such.

So all things considered, you’re in a very good position in a practical sense, because you are British nationals and you will get 180 days each time that you present yourself at the border. So go in and out, as I’ve said, maybe three or four times over the course of two years, spend 20 months, maybe 23, 24 months on that basis, and then if you find yourself having problems when you re-enter Hong Kong go down to Immigration Department with your son, explain the circumstances that you find yourself in, deliver to the Immigration Department all the information that they need to make a decision as to the bona fide of your circumstances, and I believe that you would be able to spend time together with your family, albeit, without securing a residence visa in the process.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that if your son does end up spending seven years in Hong Kong, all total, and converts his status from a sponsored employment visa through to permanent residency, he will be able to sponsor you and you will be able to come as dependents and be able to take advantage of all the benefits that Hong Kong has to offer for all residents, including access to medical facilities and services.

I hope that helps.

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What Do The Immigration Department Look For When Establishing The Bona Fides Of A Hong Kong Employer As A Suitable AND Credible Sponsor Under The Immigration Arrangements For Non-local Graduates?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Your Question Answered / No responses

Can any old entity successfully sponsor an employment visa extension under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates? What qualifies a Hong Kong employer as a suitable and credible sponsor?

QUESTION

I am currently in Hong Kong on IANG Visa.

My company would need to help me to sponsor the IANG visa once my limit of stay is within 4 weeks of expiry.

I do understand that the remuneration for the job needs to be at the market level and the job should be commonly taken up by the graduates.

What I would like to know is that is there any minimum standard regarding the size, revenue and/or profit that the company must satisfy in order to sponsor the IANG visa.

In other words is there any minimum standard for the financial standing of the company for it to be eligible to sponsor the IANG Visa?

ANSWER

Essentially what the Immigration Department is looking for from a proposed sponsor of an employment visa granted under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-Local Graduates (IANG) is that the sponsoring entity indeed be a suitable and credible sponsor. Now whilst your question drives to the heart of profitability, in fact the Immigration Department are not so much looking for profitability, although that clearly helps if the business is profitable, but they’re wanting to make sure that it’s a sizable and well established employer, and to that extent what I’ve done is I’ve included in this post a cut and paste of a standard list that the Immigration Department send out in pursuit of every application under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-Local Graduates, so you can get uh an insight into what it is the Immigration Department is really looking for from a proposed sponsor so that it can qualify as a suitable & credible sponsor.

If you can address each of these items in the list to the satisfaction of the Immigration Department then suitability for sponsorship purposes will be established; and note that there is a requirement there in relation to the business plan for the business in the event that the sponsoring entity or the proposed sponsoring entity is less than twelve months old.

This really drives to the heart of the Immigration Department wanting to be sure that friends of IANG applicants are not just cobbling together a quick story for the purposes of contriving a job offer under IANG so that new graduates will be able to carry on their lives in Hong Kong in the wake of having had a twelve-month grace period to get themselves established in the workforce with well established organisations.

So I think the list actually speaks volumes as to what the Immigration Department are looking for. Don’t worry about profitability as such. Just make sure that as you’ve stated the compensation that’s being paid to you is broadly commensurate with market rates locally, and if your employer is able to suitably address the list that’s detailed in the post, the bona fide of being a suitable and credible sponsor will have been established and you can expect that your extension will get approved without too many problems.

I hope you found that useful.

Copy Standard List Requirements Referenced in the PodCast Answer

 

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How To Apply For A Hong Kong Investment Visa Without Paying For Professional Help – 10 – The Catch 22

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Musing / No responses

I have given this talk around town for the last couple of years now and so pleased to finally add it to our coverage of the Hong Kong investment visa. This segment speaks to the proverbial issue of having started your Hong Kong business before you have received the permission of the Hong Kong Immigration Department to do so and in the process finding yourself in the Catch 22!

The talk was graciously hosted at WYND Co-working Space, ran by a group of great people for whom I have a great deal of time.

The Complete Talk in Logical Segments

1 – Introduction

2 – Policy

3 – Visa Problem?

4 – Mainlanders

5 – Visitors

6 – Work Visa?

7 – Investment Visa?

8 – Approvability Test

9 – Cash Needed

10 – Catch 22

11 – Loved Ones

12 – Visa Refused?

13 – Trying Again

14 – D-I-Y

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