Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

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

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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How Can Mainlanders Establish Businesses in Hong Kong Under the General Employment Policy?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Hadley Says…, Investment Visas / 2 responses

Under current immigration policy, Chinese Nationals seeking to come to Hong Kong to establish businesses can do so by way of the Admission of Mainland Talents & Professional Scheme.

On the other hand, if they meet certain qualification criteria, such Chinese nationals can utilize the provisions of the General Employment Policy – which is the set of rules and regulations used by every other foreign national eligible to submit applications to come and set up businesses in the HKSAR.

Under the General Employment Policy Chinese passport holders who have either:

–          Secured permanent residency in a third country, or

–          Have lived continuously outside of China for a minimum of 12 months

… are eligible to make an application to invest in Hong Kong and establish an operating business.

This application is different from the HKD10 million Capital Investment Entrant Scheme and does not require such a high level of investment nor do the funds need to be locked in for seven years in order to maintain ongoing residence visa permissions in the HKSAR.

Instead, such Chinese national applicants need to  be able to show that they are in a position to substantially contribute to the economy of Hong Kong and will, and in fact subsequently have done so, go on to establish an operating business here, creating jobs and benefiting Hong Kong’s economy.

As the Hong Kong Immigration Department do not discriminate where the Chinese national applicant enjoys permanent residency outside of China, it means that countries such as Nauru, Vanuatu, Niger, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone as well as Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand and the UK are all eligible PR jurisdictions under the General Employment Policy.

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What Type of Visa 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

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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What to Do if You Find Yourself in the Hong Kong Visa ‘Twilight Zone’

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Hadley Says…, Investment Visas, Special Programmes / 4 responses

Sometimes, Hong Kong residents find themselves changing employers or swapping from a sponsored employment visa to a business investment visa, when their current limit of stay expires and they find themselves ‘without a visa’ whilst the Hong Kong ID are working on their applications.

In this instance, so long as you have an ‘active application’ ongoing, the Immigration Department will allow you to slip into a kind of twilight zone where you do not have a valid period of stay manifested in your passport.

This can last from just a few days or even a few weeks – just as long as it takes for ImmD to finalise your application.

However, without a valid period of stay endorsed in your passport, you will not be able to leave Hong Kong as the officers at the border cannot clear you for departure as they have no means of determining that you are not in fact an overstayer.

Consequently, where you find yourself in the twilight zone like this you need to contact the case officer at Immigration Tower having responsibility for your application well in advance of your planned departure and ask them to prepare a Departure Memo for you to present with your passport as you exit Hong Kong.

Upon your return, you will be granted a visitor visa upon arrival as this is the only status that will be available to you until the Department have finalized your substantive application.

Once your new visa is available, however you will be able to, exit Hong Kong relinquishing your visitor visa as you leave, place your new visa label on a clean page in your passport prior to reentering and, when you have come back into Hong Kong, your new residence visa will be activated accordingly.

Unless you’ve been ‘extended’, in which case there will be no need to depart and return in this way.

And don’t worry, whether you’re in the twilight zone or leave via a Departure Memo, this experience will not break your continuity of residence for the purposes of any right of abode application you may decide to make after you have lived in Hong Kong continuously for 7 years.

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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 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?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas, Investment Visas, VG Front Page / 10 responses

Under Hong Kong immigration law, foreign nationals are granted employment visa permissions to undertake work for a specific employer on the nominated terms and conditions of the employment agreement which underpins the work permissions granted on the issue of the initial visa, any subsequent change of sponsorship approval or your last employment visa extension.

Any work performed for any other party, whether paid or unpaid, is a breach of conditions of stay – under all circumstances, without exception.

So,  what will the Immigration Department make of the situation where a foreign national resident has breached his conditions of stay by taking up an unauthorised employment because, after all, employment visa permissions are not transferrable from job to job.

There is no such thing as a ‘flexible’ working visa.

The response of the Department will very much depend on the result of their fact finding exercise in getting to the bottom of any unauthorised employment which comes to their attention.

If, for example, they discover that the foreign national has cynically abused immigration policy,  deliberately job hopping and paying no need to the strict conditions of the limit of stay imposed, sanctions ranging from criminal prosecution to cancellation of all ongoing present ,and refusal of any future, residence permissions can be expected.

On the other hand, if there has been an inadvertent oversight or honest misunderstanding of how immigration law works in Hong Kong, it’s possible that the Immigration Department might be prepared to receive a letter of explanation and apology together with an express Declaration on Form ID468 from the erring foreign national and that could put an end to the matter.

Much turns on the facts, the extent and length of the breach and how it came to light.

But one thing is for sure.

There really is no need for any of this to transpire as the Immigration Department are very clear about the law in respect of unauthorised employment and it’s incumbent on you, as the visa holder, to ensure you understand the conditions attached to your employment visa when it is granted to you.

You own the visa and with it the responsibility to be compliant with its terms at all times.

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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.

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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