Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

I Would Like to Apply for a Job Seekers Visa For Hong Kong – How Do I Go About Doing It?

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

Hong Kong immigration is rife with visa gossip and rumours so I am pleased this question has been raised as it allows me to slay an old dragon once and for all!  

QUESTION

Hi Stephen,

Thanks ever so much for your amazing website. I have never seen anything like this before – and I can’t believe it’s all free!

I have been looking around for details about the Job Seekers Visa For Hong Kong but can’t find anything.

Does this visa actually exist?

I have been told by a couple of people that I can come and live here for 3 months no questions asked as I look for a job, then swap that job seekers visa over to a work visa.

How do I go about doing this?

Thank you again!

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Strategy on How to Craft an Argument to Appeal a Refused Hong Kong Right of Abode Application

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Long Stay & PR, Refusals & Appeals, Your Question Answered / 11 responses

First Published November 29, 2012

An excellent question on the Right of Abode came in just now. Raises a really interesting point of professional practice the likes of which very rarely present themselves these days.

QUESTION

I have recently been declined Permanent Residency status from HK Immigration, but believe I have grounds to appeal, and would like your advice. 

I am a Canadian citizen residing in Hong Kong as an Ordinary Resident from October 2004.

From June 2008 – January 2009 I was out of work (no employment visa), but still living in Hong Kong, staying on a tourist visa. HK Immigration declined my application based on this time period stating that: 

“Being a person with visitor status at the material time, section 11(10) of the Immigration Ordinance Cap 115 under which any permission given to a person to land or remain in Hong Kong shall, if in force on the day that person departs from Hong Kong, expire immediately after his departure, is applicable to your period of stay in Hong Kong on visitor status.”

During this period I was searching for work, and was still paying rent and utilities in Hong Kong, holding and utilizing my Hong Kong bank account, and conducting myself with the intention of settlement in Hong Kong. I did have a new job contract which stated I could commence work when my new employment visa was approved which came through on the 12th January 2009.

I understand that there has been a break in my continuous ordinary residence of 7 months, however I believe I may have grounds to appeal based on:

I was residing in Hong Kong during this period searching for work (I have a contract stating that I would commence my new job based on this) with the intention (Which still exists today) of settlement in Hong Kong.

 – I was paying rental/utilities, had a bank accounts in place with the intention of taking Hong Kong as my place of residence.

 – The application for my employment visa was placed in November and the application timeframe has pushed out the period from 5 months to 7 months

 – I have all taxation forms for the last 7 years proving it is my intention to settle in Hong Kong.

 Listening to your podcasts, I understand I will only get one shot at an appeal.

 My questions are:

 – If I build an appeal based on the circumstances above, would I have a good chance of having the ruling over-turned and Permanent Residency granted?

 – Do you know of other cases where there has been a break in the 7 year continuous period but Permanent Residency status was granted? And if so, on what grounds was the break in ordinary residence over-looked?

Look forward to hearing from you.

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I Have Sworn a Declaration That I am Leaving Hong Kong to Receive an MPF Refund – Am I Now Precluded From Making an Application for the Right of Abode Here?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / No responses

What a great question – never been asked this before!

QUESTION

I have been resident in Hong Kong for 5 and a half years on a working visa.

I lost my job over 6 months ago and thought that I had no option but to leave.

I obtained the MPF refund in May and signed a statutory declaration indicating that I would leave in early June.

I then realised that I had been too hasty and that I could still have applied for the right of abode at the end of the seven year residency period.

I now want to do this and either study or work if i can get a job until such time as I can apply.

Is it too late now that i have signed the statutory declaration and received the repayment?

Is there anything I can do to remedy the position?

Thank you in anticipation of your reply.

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I run an internet company based out of Hong Kong but choose to spend most of my time away from Hong Kong – will I be able to get permanent residency after 7 years?

Will I still qualify for the right of abode if I worked temporarily in Macau yet lived in Hong Kong for the full 7 years?

What can be said to be ordinary residence for the purposes of a Hong Kong right of abode application?

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Is There Any Fixed Residency Requirement for Retention of a Hong Kong Employment Visa?

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

Not every stint for work or business means full time residency in Hong Kong so what to do about ‘half-timers’?

QUESTION

I am pursuing options to take up employment in Hong Kong and would like to know if there is any residence requirement for retention of a work visa. For example, how long can one be absent from the country in any one year?  This issue is important to me because I also wish to retain my employment/investment interest in the middle east and so am looking at a six month in Hong Kong – six month abroad arrangement.

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Will One Month As A Visitor Between Residence Visas Break My Continuity of Residence for the Right of Abode in Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / 2 responses

First Published June 20, 2013

This question raises its head in many different guises but this is the first time that anyone has asked it in such a pointed way in the context of training visas – so I’m pleased to be able to shed some light!

QUESTION

Hi,

Great that you provide this service!

I have a question.

I am currently on a 1 year training visa (expiring 30 June). I do not yet have another job offer lined up. I am currently interviewing for other employers, but things are slow.

It is likely that I will need to leave Hong Kong just before the expiry and then re-enter on a tourist visa.

My question is – if my visa expires on 30th June (with no new job offer or sponsor lined up by this time) but I get a job offer in say in mid-July….will the month or so spent in Hong Kong on a tourist visa count against me in obtaining the ‘7 years’ to acquire PR?

Will the clock be reset to zero if I am on a tourist visa, even for just a month or two?

Many thanks for answering!

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Am I Allowed to Work Full Time Even Though I Only Have a One Year Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Special Programmes, Your Question Answered / 2 responses

I just love the easy Hong Kong immigration questions – gives me a break from thinking too hard!

QUESTION

Hi there!

I’m Australian and I have an approved Working Holiday Visa, but am wondering if I can work full-time (albeit for a max of 3 months per employer), or whether only part-time hours are allowed?

Also I have received an approval for the visa from the Immigration Department and have to leave Hong Kong for it to be validated…can I just leave for a day?

Is the purpose just for my passport to be stamped at Immigration on re-entry to Hong Kong Airport?

Many thanks for your help! 

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The Visa Geeza on RTHK Radio 3 – August 2013

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Is 50 Days a Particularly Long Time to Process a Hong Kong Employment Visa Application?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Your Question Answered / 12 responses

How long should a Hong Kong Employment Visa Application take to finalize – especially in light of the 4 weeks cited on the Hong Kong Immigration Department website?

QUESTION

My working visa application is now almost into its 7th week (49 days and counting).

There were documents that immigration requested from my sponsor which may have delayed things a bit.

Day 1 – was personal filing of my employment visa application in Wanchai.

Day 28 – request of ImmD for certain documents from my sponsoring employer.

Day 31 – my sponsoring company faxed the required documents to immigration.

It is now almost 50 days and my application is still in progress.

Apart from the time it is taking, my other questions are:

(A)  Is the online enquiry actually updated daily or is it true that there will not be updates on Sunday and Monday because it would be results from the weekend.

(B)  I visited immigration and asked if I could get more detailed information.  He said someone would call me but nothing yet. How can I get the case Officer’s information if at all possible.

Thanks in advance.

POST REFERENCED IN PODCAST ANSWER: How to gee up a Hong Kong visa application that is taking a long time to finalise

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