Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

Why Would You Choose Unconditional Stay After 7 Years Residence in Hong Kong When the Right of Abode is Available Instead?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Long Stay & PR, Special Programmes / 9 responses

 

Unconditional stay and the right of abode are 2 very different immigration statuses but they both have one thing in common.

Namely, you need to have been continuously and ordinarily resident in the HKSAR for at least 7 years in or to qualify for either of these immigration consents.

But, whilst the right of abode is the Rolls Royce immigration status representing defacto Hong Kong citizenship (albeit without a passport if you’re not a Chinese national), unconditional stay is merely an administrative convenience afforded to you by the Director of Immigration.

If you have the right of abode in Hong Kong you get:

• to land
• to be free from any condition of stay (including a limit of stay)
• not to be deported; and
• not to be removed.

Moreover, so long as you make one entry into Hong Kong in any 3 year given period, you will not lose your right of abode. If you fail to meet this condition, however, you are simply downgraded to the right to land.

If you only go for unconditional stay, though, you are allowed to remain here unconditionally, meaning no sponsor or further permission of the Immigration Department are needed to live out your time in the HKSAR, but you will lose this status if you are absent from Hong Kong for more than 365 continuous days in a row.

So, most people who qualify for upgraded immigration status after living continuously in Hong Kong for 7 years go on to secure the right of abode bypassing unconditional stay completely.

However, for those long stay residents who have not taken Hong Kong as their only place of permanent residence or for Capital Investment Entrant Scheme visa holders who have not lived full time in Hong Kong during the 7 years of holding that status, Unconditional Stay is an obvious choice to go for.

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Is It Actually Becoming Harder to Get Your Hong Kong Employment or Investment Visa Approved?

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

One refrain about the Hong Kong visa process that I have heard constantly down the years is that ‘it’s getting tougher’.

In fact, it always seems to be ‘getting tougher’.

I heard this prior to 1997 when all the British nationals needed to bring their immigration status into line with the arrangements for UK citizens in light of the Handback to China.

I also heard it during the time of the Asian economic crisis, 9/11, the Iraq War, SARS and during the GFC.

In my experience, however, it never really gets tougher, per se.

What tends to happen is that, in times of economic doldrums, the Hong Kong ID will scrutinize marginal employment visa applications more closely, to ensure that, properly stated, job offers extended to foreign national applicants are in fact not best taken up by others from within the local workforce.

It’s worth restating, that this tends to happen only at the very lower end of the employment spectrum, where the compensation on offer is just at or barely above the bare minimum required for approval.

Most other employment visa applicants just have a normal time of it.

Conversely, when the economy is bad is tends to be easier to get investment visas approved.

This is due to the fact that any foreign national who is committing capital to our economy and is manifestly capable of creating a local employment position or 2 through the implementation of a business plan, is mostly warmly welcomed when the economy is not performing especially well.

In so far as the process goes, the Hong Kong Immigration Department tend not to be overly bureaucratic and focus on getting the job done with a bare minimum of fuss.

This means that, unlike so many other jurisdictions, they are usually happy to work with mere copy documents, often those supplied just by fax, in an effort to bring efficiency to the Hong Kong immigration application process.

So no, it’s not getting tougher, it’s always pretty much the same – and has been like this for 20 years at least.

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The Visa Dilemma of an Unmarried Trailing Partner Seeking to Work in Hong Kong

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Visitor Visas, Your Question Answered / 1 response

It’s a common enough problem, where unmarried couples are coming to Hong Kong, one to work, one trailing in the other’s wake. I have covered variations on this scenario previously, but this question is excellent as it gets to the heart of how to manage the inevitable visitor status of the non employed partner through ’til such a time as both parties are able to gain employment visa status.

QUESTION

“I viewed your Hong Kong visa presentation & I was wondering if you could help me with a query?

My partner is travelling over to Hong Kong to work for an airline. As we are not married I will not be a dependent person.

I was told that I would receive a tourist visa for 3 months which could be lengthened by travelling outside HK & re-entering.

I hope to find employment in HK & remain on, on a work visa.

Please advise on:

(1) Should I mention my intention of seeking employment when entering HK or on a visa application?

(2) Your opinion on whether extending the visa based on the desire to find work in HK is possible?”

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PODCAST ANSWER

Podcast: Play in new window

The 4 Essential Aspects of a Capital Investment Entrant Scheme Visa Application Approval

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

If you’re applying for a visa under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, it is vitally important that four specific issues be addressed positively before you submit your application.

Firstly, you need to have a minimum of ten million Hong Kong dollars to lock into certain Hong Kong dollar denominated permissible investment asset classes which, at this time, specifically EXCLUDES Hong Kong real estate.

Secondly, you must be able to show that you have beneficially owned the funds to be invested into the Scheme for a minimum of 24 months immediately prior to submitting your application – so you need to take care in your calculations if some of these funds have been held in joint accounts with other people such as your spouse.

Thirdly, in addition to the funds to be invested, you need to show that you have further funds, over and above the 10 million, which you can use to live while you get settled in the HKSAR.

Finally, you must be free of a criminal record involving serious crime.

Depending on the timing of your actual investment, either before or after you decide to participate in the Scheme, you can expect your application to take between 4 and 7 months to finalise.

Be aware, however, that once you have your Capital Investment Entrant Scheme visa endorsed in your passport, your money is locked into Hong Kong if you wish to maintain your status.

But your immigration prize is effectively unlimited permissions to work, study, join in a business or indeed any other activity in Hong Kong – just so long as its legal!

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What’s the Minimum Capital Required for a Hong Kong Business Investment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Hadley Says…, Investment Visas / 7 responses

The Business Investment Visa in Hong Kong is different from the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme.

The former requires an applicant to establish or join in a Hong Kong business actively, while the latter is just a matter of passively investing in the HKSAR.

The Capital Investment Entrant Scheme requires at least ten million Hong Kong dollars while the Business Investment Visa does not require any such minimum.

Instead, you need to have sufficient capital to give effect to a business plan which  will demonstrate to the Hong Kong Immigration Department that you can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong.

Of course, this is like asking how long is a piece of string.

So, instead of focusing on a specific minimum number, it is better to produce a set of financial projections that show the following:

1          You can finance the first 12 months of your business and life in Hong Kong using your investment funds through until such a time as you have revenues, then profits, coming into your company.

2         You can create at least 1 or 2 local jobs in the first 12 to 18 months of operation – and have the money to fund your business through to this time – and beyond.

3         You have sufficient capital to give effect to your overall business plan such that it stands a reasonable chance of becoming a solidly entrenched commercial entity in its own right before too long.

So it all depends on your business plan, your prior experience and the overall story.

Business investment visas can be approved with cash in the bank at just 300,000 or 400,000 Hong Kong dollars if your story is a good one but be aware, bottom scraping should be avoided at all costs if you want to sleep well at night whilst the Immigration department are considering your application!

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Is It Possible for an SME to Sponsor a Work Visa for a Foreign National Employee in Hong Kong?

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

Even if your business is relatively small, it is not totally impossible for you to serve as an immigration sponsor for a foreign national staff who you might wish to take up employment for you here in the HKSAR.

In these circumstances, not only must the visa applicant him or herself pass the approvability test of possessing special skills knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available in Hong Kong…

But your business must also demonstrate that you are justified in engaging the services of this applicant and you might also have to show that the skills involved can not readily be found within the local workforce.

Additionally, as this will be the first time your company has sought to sponsor such a foreigner to work for you in Hong Kong, the Immigration Department will expressly drill down on and request you to provide information on such things as:

–          Your financial turnover and profitability.

–          The local employees who work for you, their job titles and what they get paid.

–          Who your clients are and what your business is really all about, and

–          Your office accommodation arrangements

Moreover, if your company is less than 2 years old, the Hong Kong ID will also require specific information and representations to prove to them that your business will be able to, in not yet in fact, make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong.

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Sometimes Large Employers Experience Hong Kong Employment Visa Refusals Too – Why Might This Be So?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says…, Refusals & Appeals / 8 responses

Most sizeable employers in Hong Kong have in house expertise when it comes to applying for employment visas for their foreign national staff.

And, unless they specifically outsource their immigration service needs to professional advisors, they are typically very comfortable in making and managing work visa applications when the need arises.

But sometimes, these applications can come a cropper!

You see, there are three types of employment visa cases which the Hong Kong Immigration Department see each and every working day.

These are cases which just the need the basic of administration, which otherwise require a lot of argument, or are a hybrid of the 2.

In 99% percent of all cases with a large employer sponsoring the application, the case tends to be just administrative in nature, meaning the forms must be filled in properly, the simple set of  supporting documentation presented in good order and the applicant is obviously  a ‘professional’ for the purposes of the General Employment Policy under Hong Kong immigration law.

The problem lies in the 1% of cases which are not just administrative but actually fall elsewhere on the argumentation-administration axis.

So, when employment visa applications sponsored by large employers get refused, it is always down to this reality: the internal human resources executive tasked with getting the visa has not understood the need to argue for an approval and has assumed that it is mostly just a matter of filling in the forms, just like always.

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