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.

More Stuff You Might Find Useful

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So, just what IS the deal with the right to land in Hong Kong anyway?

Hong Kong right of abode application – when does the clock start ticking?

Hong Kong unconditional stay vs the right to land for CIES visa holders?

10 must have resources for a successful Hong Kong permanent residency application

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.

More Stuff to Help You Along

10 must have resources for any Hong Kong investment visa application

10 must have resources for a successful Hong Kong working visa application

How and why Hong Kong attracts foreign national talent

Sometimes even large employers experience Hong Kong employment visa refusals – why might this be so?

How to gee up a Hong Kong working visa application that is taking too long to finalise

 

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!

More Stuff You May Find Interesting

Unconditional stay vs. right of abode after 7 years residence in Hong Kong under a CIES visa

Can I swap from a dependant visa to a capital investment entrant scheme visa in Hong Kong?

Is the Hong Kong capital investment entrant scheme actually fit for purpose?

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

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?