Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

Our Dependant Visas Will Expire Soon – We Can’t Get Back To Hong Kong In Time Due To COVID19 – Help!

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

I get 30-40 questions each week and not all of them merit a podcast answer. Some are answered quickly via email and for the next few days I’ll post some of these anonymised replies here.

Our Dependant Visas Will Expire Soon – We Can’t Get Back To Hong Kong In Time Due To COVID19 – Help!

QUESTION

Hi, me and my 2 daughters age 12 & 22 are stranded in India for the past 4 months and our dependent visas are expiring on 16th July.

There are no flights to come back to Hong Kong until 31st July. We are trying for evacuation flight, which might happen after 16th July.

My husband is in Hong Kong and has already applied for how own visa extension.

How do we get back to Hong Kong in this kind of situation? All of us have Hong Kong ID cards.

Please advise – what are the options available?

ANSWER

Since no flights are available before the visa expiry date and visitors are banned from entering Hong Kong at the moment, we suggest you flying back to Hong Kong when there are no more travel restrictions.

After coming back to Hong Kong, you and your daughters can apply for a reinstatement of your dependant visas with the necessary documents plus a letter explaining that you were outside Hong Kong and had no available flights to come back before the expiry date and extend your visas on time.

It is also advisable to write a letter about your current situation to the Immigration Department in advance, especially for your 22-year-old daughter (who can as an adult extend/reinstate her dependant visa but not have a new dependant visa issued to her), so that the Immigration Department cannot reject your reinstatement applications due to your lack of manifest intention to return before the expiry date.

The approval is subject to the Immigration Department’s decision; however, a visa can usually be reinstated successfully with a valid reason.

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Can I Extend My Hong Kong Visitor Visa If I Am Stuck Here Due to COVID19?

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

I get 30-40 questions each week and not all of them merit a podcast answer. Some are answered quickly via email and for the next few days I’ll post some of these anonymised replies here.

Can I Extend My Hong Kong Visitor Visa If I Am Stuck Here Due to COVID19?

QUESTION

Hi

I’m here on a visitor visa, which I’ve already extended for a further 2 months. If I leave Hong Kong to do a visa run, I won’t be able to return because non-residents are barred.

What are the chances of a second extension?

Will I be able to stay if I get a job and apply for a work visa, or will I still need to leave?

ANSWER

The chance of getting a second extension now is still favourable due to the current COVID19 situation.

You may include an explanation letter in your application for extension stating your health concerns and travel restrictions etc.

We do not recommend you to include the reason of looking for a new job in Hong Kong as it does not look convincing to the Immigration Department that you are looking for a job while being a visitor here.

You may assure in the letter that, as a visitor visa holder, you are not engaging in any activity that would represent a breach of your conditions of stay, including taking up employment (paid or unpaid), enrolling in any formal course of study or any other activity not commensurate with visitor permissions.

If you apply for an employment visa, you may or may not need to leave and re-enter Hong Kong. Originally, applicants needed to exit and re-enter Hong Kong to activate their employment visas. However, the Immigration Department is now offering a special arrangement for onshore visa activation although this arrangement does not officially exist.

To activate the visa without exiting Hong Kong, applicants can fax, email or submit in person an explanation letter to the approving officer stating the difficulty to exit and re-enter Hong Kong, with case reference number and contact details.

After that, if so minded to make a positive act of discretion, the officer will contact and make an appointment with the applicant. It normally takes four weeks to process visa/entry permit applications for employment upon receipt of all the required documents, so there can be changes.

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Can I Get A Depedant Visa For An Elderly Parent If I Have a Permanent HK ID Card?

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

I get 30-40 questions each week and not all of them merit a podcast answer. Some are answered quickly via email and for the next few days I’ll post some of these anonymised replies here.

A Depedant Visa For An Elderly Parent If I Have a Permanent HK ID Card?

QUESTION

My brother is an Indian born in Hong Kong. And he is holding permanent ID card for Hong Kong. Currently he is working in Hong Kong with a salary of HKD15,000 per month, speaking fluent Chinese. But his mother is living in India. She is about 72 years of age with no one looking after her. She wants to join her son in Hong Kong. Please let me know if her son can get her a permanent ID Card. Or any kind of residential visa. To stay with him in Hong Kong.

ANSWER

Your mother can apply for a dependant visa sponsored by your brother. Apart from application form and travel document, they need to show proof of employment, accommodation and financial standing. They have to prove that they have arranged under the same roof in Hong Kong by providing tenancy agreement or proof of ownership. A bank account with deposits covering rental fees of at least one year will be ideal.

It normally takes six weeks to process a visa/entry permit application for residence as dependant upon receipt of all the required documents.

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The Path to Hong Kong Residency & Our Fantastic Low Tax Regime

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Infographic, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Special Programmes / 4 responses

First Published June 4, 2012

No matter what type of Hong Kong visa you have secured, residency in Hong Kong offers fantastic tax benefits!

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But Stephen, How Do You Make Any Money When You Give All Your Hong Kong Visa Expertise Away for Free?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Infographic, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Refusals & Appeals, Special Programmes, VG Front Page, Visitor Visas / 42 responses

Hong Kong visa expertise for free?

 

As I am a member of quite a few Hong Kong related groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+, the content of this Blog is distributed quite widely and commands a healthy following.

Not that everyone is waiting eagerly for the latest Hong Kong visa and immigration updates from me.

Far from it in fact.

The content that I put out both on hongkongvisageeza.com and also hongkongvisahandbook.com is evergreen and designed to help people solve their immigration problems whenever they arise.

And for most people that is once every blue moon.

However, I do get asked quite often about what the hell I’m doing giving away all my Hong Kong visa expertise for free and it never ceases to amaze me how  people asking this question are always surprised when I tell them the answer.

So, I’ve decided to share more details of our business strategy with you (building on My Story).

As you can see from this Infographic, it’s all about answering questions, solving problems and empowering people who need to access expertise to make informed decisions – for free.

No more, no less.

Some of you good people will choose to ask us to help you professionally and you then become a client of our firm.

If you don’t become a client you will, nevertheless, have accessed our Hong Kong visa expertise and, quite possibly, we will have helped you solve a problem.

From that we get your goodwill, brand recognition and traffic on our websites (which has value in of itself).

You may also possibly tell your friends about us too.

Eventually, business comes our way and, for that, we’re really grateful.

In today’s internet enabled world, everyone is a customer in one form or another.

We’re just glad to have you around.

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Newcomer’s Guide to Getting a Hong Kong Employment Visa

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Infographic, VG Front Page / 10 responses

This infographic sets out how the path to securing a Hong Kong employment visa is traveled, from the decision to look for work through to granting of the all-important visa in your passport.

More Stuff to Help You Along

The perils of contriving a job offer in order to make an employment visa application in Hong Kong

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How to get a Hong Kong working visa automatically with no questions asked!

Can I study then get married all whilst holding an employment visa for a company I no longer work for?

Is it ever OK to work in Hong Kong on a visitor visa?

Hong Kong Immigration… What Does It Mean… Contrived Employment?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Musing, Special Programmes / No responses

First Published September 9, 2016

Over the last 20 years or so I have coined a number of phrases in Hong Kong immigration parlance.

In this short piece I discuss  the old chestnut of contrived employment (fake job offers).

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What does it mean… Twilight Zone?

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What does it mean… Visa Gossip & Rumours?

What does it mean… Suitable & Credible Sponsor?

What does it mean… One Year Rule?

What does it mean… Catch 22?

What does it mean… Roof-Over-Head; Food-on-Table?

What Does It Mean… Approvability Test?