Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

Hong Kong Investment Visa – An Excellent Example of a Foreign SME That Could Expect Immigration Approval to Relocate to the HKSAR

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

Even modestly scaled SME’s with a track record of operations overseas can expect the Hong Kong Immigration Department to look favourably on an application from the owner for a business investment visa to, effectively, redomicile the business operations into Hong Kong. This question asked recently sets the scene nicely.

QUESTION

“Firstly thanks for providing such an excellent resource for HK visa information!

 I’m a 24 year from Canada currently working for myself as a sole trader developing and selling software on the internet with a view to applying for a business investment visa within the next year.

 My plan would be to register a company in Hong Kong, and perform all my business through it for roughly 6 months (whilst residing in Canada of course!) so that I can build up capital and have documented proof I have a profitable venture when presenting HKID with my visa application.

Currently I am the only person developing the software and I sell around 75,000 HKD each month, this figure is increasing month on month. I estimate I can make profits of 100,000 HKD/month by early 2013. I would have around 300,000 HKD I could invest into the business at the time of the visa application.

 Upon the visa being granted my plan would be to rent a small office in a cheaper part of Hong Kong (possibly the New Territories) and hire 1 local to begin with a plan to hire 1 more within a year. Both employees would work in a software development role where there would be a lot of scope for learning about and working with cutting edge web technologies. Their salaries would be around 10 – 15k per month.

What I’d really like to know is do you think the figures quoted above are realistic for a successful visa application? I know there’s most likely no official minimum figure but after reading your website a lot of the articles quote figures quite a bit higher so I’m slightly doubtful. Also would my age be an issue? do HKID favor slightly older more experienced business owners?

Any advice would be very much appreciated!”

More Stuff to May Find Useful or Interesting

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The economy at home is very bad – so what investment visa options exist for you in Hong Kong?

I have a socially advantageous yet modestly capitalised business plan  – can I get an investment visa for Hong Kong?

10 must have resources for any successful Hong Kong investment visa application

PODCAST ANSWER

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The Visa Geeza on RTHK Radio Three – Oct 2012

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Musing, Visitor Visas / No responses

On Mr Whelan’s show today, he was keen to learn more about visitor visas and also the immigration options for dependant visa holders who’s marriages have irretrievably broken down. We also had a short chat about the two-party nature of a Hong Kong employment visa application and the likelihood of small business owners actually being permitted by the HKID to employ a foreign worker.

You can listen to our conversation here.

I will be visiting Phil at the end of November, not exactly sure when at the mo.

In the meantime, why not check out Morning Brew on Facebook and also listen live to Phil’s show via the web here.

 

Listen To The Show

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Hong Kong Visas – The Long Stay Visitor’s Awkward Predicament

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, VG Front Page, Visitor Visas / 27 responses

3 or 4 times a week I receive a call from people who have exactly the same problem.It happens so often now, that I can tell what the problem is within the first 5 seconds of our conversation kicking off.

And 9 times out of 10 these calls all follow a similar story line.

Namely…..

“ I have been here as a visitor for several months, coming and going to extend my visa. I’ve been checking out my options and I’m just about ready to make an application but I still need a couple of months more.

The problem is that when I came in last time Immigration gave me only one week and stamped SCL in my passport. I need more time, can you help me? “

And in almost every case, the answer is no.

Effectively once you have a Short Conditional Landing endorsed in your passport, your time in Hong Kong as a visitor is effectively coming to an end.

The only way to relieve this negative status is to leave Hong Kong for a minimum of 12 months or subsequently go on to secure a residence visa. But you will have to wait outside of Hong Kong until that residence visa application has been finalized.

So either way, it’s time to start packing your bags.

The conversations that I have with these unfortunate people all tend to end in the same way.

You see, whilst the Immigration Department do have a very flexible, friendly and liberal approach to visitors to Hong Kong, it is important to remember that visitor mean visitor.

It doesn’t mean quasi-resident or long stay comer and goer.

The Department are well aware that opportunities in Hong Kong for visitors present themselves all the time and are more than happy to allow a foreign national sufficient time to get his ducks lined up in a row whilst the conditions for a resident visa application manifest themselves.

But the generous 90 or 180 day limit of stay afforded to most western nationalities is, with one or 2 trips in and out, mostly enough time to get everything ready for the main application and any longer than this puts the Department on notice that something may be amiss, for example, that the visitor may be working illegally or has established a business without their approval.

So, when they suspect this may be the case, they simply come down hard.

Bang, here’s your short conditional landing and then off you go. Almost without exception.

With only limited resources, it’s the only way the Immigration Department can police the millions of visitors who come to Hong Kong each year.

When they act, they do so decisively and appeals for further extensions of time typically just fall on deaf ears.

Everyone seems to know someone who just keeps coming and going but eventually they go, and never come back.

More Stuff to Help You Along

Why internet forums are a cr@p source of Hong Kong visa & immigration advice

Will any time you spend in Hong Kong as a visitor count towards the magic seven years for the right of abode?

Is it possible to get an extension to my visitor visa in order to stay with my girlfriend here?

The Shenzhen Shuttle – a good way to extend your visitor visa?

Britcham spills the beans on the Hong Kong Visa Centre’s biggest secret!

Why Do Some Hong Kong Visa Applications Take Months to Finalise (if Ever)?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Hadley Says…, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Special Programmes, Visitor Visas / 41 responses

If your application for a Hong Kong visa is taking a very long time to process any number of things could be going on to cause the delay.

For example, the Immigration Department may be doing deep background checks on you or any of your accompanying family members to assess your bona fides in respect of your identity and your relationship with people included in your application.

They may also be looking into the details of any employer and related overseas entities to better understand their origins and whether or not they could be said to represent a security threat to the HKSAR.

Sometimes, however, the Immigration Department choose not to finalise an application, keeping it open and pending on an indefinite basis as they have concerns about the bona fides and suspect there may be an immigration office being committed by the applicants – but don’t have the jurisdiction to prosecute as it is all happening outside of Hong Kong.

Similarly, if the applicant is in Hong Kong and the Immigration Department have concerns about an application but no evidence of any wrong doing when it basically should be approved all things considered, they may deliberately not finalise an application expecting that prolonged processing time will cause the applicant to withdraw and thereby solving a problem without the department needing to actually come to a decision.

As you can tell, these issues all relate back to the role that the Immigration Department play as part of the Security Branch of the HKSAR, so the bottom line is this.

If it’s taking a very long time, you can be very sure they believe there is a problem.

More Info You Might Find Useful

Getting a working visa for Hong Kong is just a matter of filling in the forms, right?

How a Hong Kong employment visa application can go completely wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing

Why internet forums are a rubbish source of Hong Kong visa and immigration advice

Why do Hong Kong investment visas get denied?

Hong Kong Immigration… What Does It Mean… Slippers And Pipe Visa?

Do I Automatically Qualify for a Hong Kong Dependant Visa if My Partner Has a Work or Investment Visa Here?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Family Visas, Hadley Says… / 12 responses

The rule for dependant visas in Hong Kong is very simple and easy to understand.

In order to qualify, the family members must be either the legal spouse or unmarried children under the age of 18.

Where the principal applicant is moving to Hong Kong for work or investment, the family members simply follow in his or her wake, securing dependant visas as an adjunct to the main application, just so long as the main applicant can, as part of the application process, demonstrate that, as a family, they can all have a roof over their head in Hong Kong and will have food on the table without recourse to any kind of public assistance.

All pretty logical and sensible really.

Moreover, once the visas have been granted, the period of stay the dependants receive mirrors that of their main family sponsor exactly all throughout their time together in Hong Kong.

This means that, for example, if the principal changes jobs or immigration status, the family’s dependant visas will carry on unaffected unless the Immigration Department specifically intervene and change their limits of stay.

But it is very unlikely they will change any of the conditions though, so you don’t have to worry too much about that.

More Stuff to Help You Along

Married to a PHKID holder overseas – the Hong Kong visa situation for the foreign national spouse

What are your visa options in Hong Kong if your marriage has irretrievably broken down?

What Hong Kong visa options exist for unmarried trailing partners?

I have a PRC national spouse resident on the Mainland – can she get a dependant visa for Hong Kong?

Can I bring my elderly parents with me when I come to take up employment in Hong Kong?

The Economy at Home is Very Bad – So What Investment Visa Options Exist for You in Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Investment Visas / 11 responses

Hong Kong has a lot to offer dynamic, entrepreneurial people who have a modicum of resources, some prior business experience and the desire to make a name for themselves out in Asia.

Leaving aside the HKD10 million investment-for-residence programme known as the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, Hong Kong offers the possibility for current overseas business owners, or aspiring investors in new Hong Kong based businesses to secure a residence visa for Hong Kong under the General Employment Policy.

Getting such a Business Investment Visa is a relatively predictable exercise if you can show some or all of the following qualities which you can bring to Hong Kong, benefiting our economy accordingly.

(1) The downsizing of your commercial enterprise in your home country, seeking to transfer the focus of your operations to Hong Kong.

(2) Baby steps transfer of part of your operations away from your own country, establishing, initially, a Representative presence in Hong Kong, prior to eventually shifting the bulk of your commercial operations or decision making here.

(3) Existing turnover in your home country of more than USD1 million p.a. that will essentially be relocated to Hong Kong on the strength of a re-arrangement of your commercial affairs in favour of headquartering in the HKSAR.

(4) The exercise of setting up in Hong Kong will create at least 1-2 local jobs here in the first 12 months, your company will be homed within suitable business premises and you have sufficient capital to run the business assuming no revenues from operations for the first 6-12 months after commencement.

Hong Kong welcomes overseas businesses, large or small, and makes it relatively painless to get started.

With visas for immediate family members readily available, incredible tax advantages, an expatriate community that is dynamic, entrepreneurial and getting on with building success, why struggle on in depressed European, American and Australasian economies when there’s no doubt you’ll be able to make an excellent go of it in Hong Kong.

So, what are you waiting for?

More Stuff to Help You Along

The 10 key reasons why foreigners seek to live and work in Hong Kong

10 ‘must have’ resources for any Hong Kong investment visa application

Is the Hong Kong Capital Investment visa actually fit for purpose?

I have a socially advantageous yet modestly capitalised business plan – can I get an investment visa for Hong Kong?

The anatomy of a ‘slam dunk’ Hong Kong investment visa – taking just 7 weeks to approval

Is the Hong Kong Quality Migrant Admission Scheme Just Too Competitive to Be Realistic?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Hadley Says…, Special Programmes / 9 responses

So, here’s the rub.

You’re assessing your chances for a Quality Migrant Admission Scheme visa and you think you’re on to a solid chance of approval.

You’ve got a good points score, a clean record, connections in Hong Kong and enough funds to live for the first 12 months without needing to find a job.

Home and hosed right?

Wrong.

The problem is you have absolutely no idea who you’re competing against when it comes time to ranking you at the selection stage.

Moreover, you have no idea what the Selection Committee are looking for on any given selection exercise and how you stack up against the competitors in your nominated industry sector.

So your true ability to assess your chances for approval under the QMAS programme are only as good as the clarity available from your Crystal Ball.

Unless, of course, you have a Nobel Prize, have represented your nation in the Olympics or a world famous virtuouso!

More Stuff You Might Fund Useful

How important are employer testimonials in your QMAS application?

Why I hate the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (& you should too!)

Realistically, what is the minimum number of points for a shot at a QMAS approval?

Hong Kong Visa Handbook templates for a QMAS application