Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

The Hong Kong Immigration Department – What an Efficient Organisation They Really Are!

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Long Stay & PR, Musing / 11 responses

It’s not often that I am required to physically present myself at the Hong Kong Immigration Department these days. My staff usually take care of the administrative aspects of the Hong Kong Visa Centre case load and I have not been in to see the operations of the HKID myself for a couple of years now (at least).

If a particular case calls for a personal interview of an applicant by the HKID, then I always accompany the client; but mostly these interviews, rare as they are, occur on floors not often visited by the hoi polloi so I never get to see what’s really happening around the place.

So when my daughter, Sayana, arrived here with me earlier this week to spend some time having fun with her Hong Kong mates, I jumped at the opportunity to go along with her to Immigration Tower to experience how she had her HKID card issued to her.

What a surprise. I can say that the process was really very good – for a routine administrative exercise. Waiting was kept to a minimum, the staff were friendly and obviously enjoyed their work. We were in an out in about 40 minutes and there didn’t seem to be too many numbers ahead of ours at any stage in the process.

And we were just walk in punters, pitching up without an appointment.

So if you’re going through the process of issuing your Permanent Identity Card for the first time, this is what you can expect to encounter:

1 – Report to Reception – hand in your completed application form. The lady will smile at you as though this is the first time she has ever done this process before and just can’t wait to get started.

2 – Receive a Number – sit and wait for about 15 minutes. Then be directed to a booth where another nice lady will make ready to take your photo and fingerprint. If you’re with your offspring accompanying her through the formalities she will smile incessently at you both and make respectful comments about how you look alike and how well you look for your age.

3 – Go & Wait for Interview – until your number is called again. Not too crowded and only 4 people ahead of us in the line. 10 minutes all up.

4 – Meet the Immigration Officer – in the flesh, real life.  Quick scan through the passports to ensure eligibility is maintained, print out of the temporary ID along with complementary photocopy provided as part of the service (“just in case you lose it”) and that was that.

I’ve done lots of personal immigration stuff in Australia before and I can honestly say Hong Kong beats my adopted country hands down when it comes to customer service, value for money and efficiency of process. While Australia merely talks of an improved service experience for Australian Immigration service-users, Hong Kong is already delivering it day in, day out.

Good stuff guys. You should be applauded. Keep up the great work.

More Stuff for Further Info

The twists and turns of an unusual Hong Kong permanent residency application

Do immigration consultants add any value to the Hong Kong visa process?

The Visa Geeza on RTHK Radio Three

Hong Kong Travel Pass Used to Keep An Extended Family Together – Quite Lawfully!

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Case Study, Family Visas, Visitor Visas / 12 responses

This case study discusses how the creative, yet perfectly lawful, use of the Hong Kong Travel Pass worked to allow a newly separated extended family from the Philippines to be able to carry on their lives together in Hong Kong even though a much-desired dependent visa was not available in their circumstances.

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

Visa Information on the Hong Kong Travel Pass

Losing unconditional stay status due to studies abroad – a family’s dilemma

I want to live in Hong Kong with my boyfriend – is the working holiday visa  a viable option?

I have an employment visa  and I want to bring my girlfriend to Hong Kong – options please?

Why applying for a Foreign Domestic Helper visa for your girlfriend is not a good idea

Winning a Hong Kong Right of Abode Approval in Record Time – Just 4 Days!

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Case Study, Long Stay & PR / 10 responses

The Hong Kong Immigration Department come under fire, in our view somewhat unfairly quite often times, when in reality they truly are a customer-focussed governmental agency.

In June of 2012 we had a client who needed to secure his Hong Kong Right of Abode in a hurry. A combination of factors conspired to work against his application being submitted in sufficient time to expect his application to be approved efficiently and quickly.

However, as you will learn in this Case Study from our files, the Immigration Department bent over backwards to assist our client and his application was finalised and approved in just 4 business days case processing time and with just 3 days left before the clock was due to run down on his essential eligibility for a Permanent Identity Card the first time around.

Normally, it takes a minimum of 4 weeks to complete such a Hong Kong Right of Abode application!

Related Posts for Further Reading

The twists and turns of an unusual Hong Kong permanent residency application

Losing the Right of Abode and then using the e-Channels

STOP PRESS – Hilter’s HKSAR passport application has been refused!

Hong Kong unconditional stay vs the Right of Abode for CIES visa holders

Can I swap from a Hong Kong dependant visa to a CIES visa?

Is the Hong Kong Capital Investment Entrant Scheme Actually Fit for Purpose?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Musing / 6 responses

The Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (“CIES”) came into effect on October 27, 2003. The purpose of the CIES is to encourage financial investment in Hong Kong, granting residence to qualifying applicants who invest a minimum of HK$10 million into qualifying Hong Kong financial assets (not, for the moment, including real estate – but that might change).

Residence is granted for an initial period of two years and is extendable in two year increments upon furnishing of proof that the qualifying investments have been maintained throughout. Permanent residency is available after seven years continuous ordinary residence, subject to satisfaction of normal criteria for qualification for issuance of a Permanent Hong Kong Identity Card.

The CIES applies to foreign nationals, residents of Macau and Taiwan and stateless persons enjoying permanent residence in a third country. Chinese nationals who have obtained permanent residence status overseas are eligible but Mainland residents have traditionally been excluded from the CIES due to foreign currency controls (but that might change too!)

To qualify for admission under the CIES the entrant must have net assets of not less than HK$10 million to which he is absolutely beneficially entitled throughout the two years immediately preceding his application – and also have further funds to be able to live independently without recourse to those HK$10 million.

An applicant must then invest HK10 million into qualifying assets (permissible asset classes) which comprise HKSE listed and HKD denominated equities, debt (government and HKSE listed corporate), Certificates of Deposit and government approved mutual funds. The list is updated relatively often and can be found here.

The money must remain continuously invested for seven years before the applicant and his family can apply for the Right of Abode (or Unconditional Stay if the residence in Hong Kong has not been continuous throughout that time or the applicant cannot put his hand on his heart and validly declare that he has taken Hong Kong as his only place of permanent residence).

Participants in the CIES are subject to a Portfolio Maintenance Requirement. Investments are ring fenced for assurance of portfolio integrity to ensure that the participant in the CIES does not reduce his investment amount during the currency of his residence in the HKSAR.

Proof of continuing ownership of the qualifying financial assets throughout his residence is required up to the minimum HK$10 million (sum total asset value) and the CIES entrant is required to transact only in permissible investment assets in a designated account opened with a single financial intermediary. Moreover, the CIES entrant is required to undertake that he will abide by the CIES rules all throughout his time in Hong Kong as an entrant under the Scheme.

CIES entrants are not allowed to cash in any capital appreciation of their qualifying portfolio. Conversely, if the value of the portfolio falls below the original HK$10 million, no topping up is required.

The CIES entrant is allowed to switch investments from one permissible asset class to another provided that the entire proceeds from the sale of the initial assets are reinvested. A complete record of every change and movement in the asset portfolio should be kept for the purposes of applying for an extension of stay when the present period of stay expires.

Applicants are subject to security vetting. Those who have committed serious criminal offences are not accepted under the CIES.

Time line to approval is 4-6 weeks after the Immigration Department are in receipt of all the documentation needed to consider an application.

A successful CIES applicant is allowed to bring in his spouse and unmarried dependant children under 18 years.

However, he must be able to demonstrate that he is capable of supporting and accommodating himself and his dependants on his own without relaying on any return on the Permissible Assets, employment or public assistance in Hong Kong.

This notwithstanding, once approved, the CIES entrant may freely take employment or join in a business without further restriction. Dependants admitted under the CIES are not allowed to take up employment or join in any business without first securing the consent of the Director of Immigration.

The initial period of stay granted is two years, renewable subject to continuing portfolio eligibility.

Applicants first secure an Approval in Principle (based upon proof of net worth and security vetting) and are granted a six month Visitor visa to allow them to land in Hong Kong.

They then acquire the qualifying investments under the CIES and, upon furnishing of proof to this effect, convert their Approval in Principal to a Formal Approval, procuring their ‘full’ CIES period of stay at that time.

Applicants who have already invested HK$10 million in permissible asset classes within six months of making their application are granted Formal Approval at the outset (subject to successful completion of the normal security vetting procedures).

Related Posts for Further Information

Hong Kong business investment visa approval where the funding was running out

One man business investment visas for Hong Kong – what’s required

Do you have a business plan template I can use for my Hong Kong business investment visa application?

How about you? What has your experience been with the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme visa?

Hong Kong Investment Visa Approved Where the Funding Was Running Out

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Case Study, Investment Visas / 7 responses

Our clients were UK nationals, he was an RFID engineer and his wife was a marketing expert. They had an interesting business plan to use Hong Kong as a hub for a new business manufacturing and distributing a radio frequency identity device to be incorporated into consumer electronics working seamlessly with smart phones.

Their intention was to complete the prototype in Taiwan, manufacture in China and manage the business through Hong Kong. They were both visitors to Hong Kong although his wife had many years previously held an employment visa as part of her earlier career before she had married in the UK.

Their business plan was an interesting one although it was not incredibly well funded. They had sufficient funds to finance their business in Hong Kong for the first six months of operations, which is typically sufficient for the purposes of an investment visa approval, but most of their capital had already been expended on the R&D and prototype development work undertaken in Taiwan.

When they came to us we had a long discussion about the pros and cons of the submission methodology for their application and settled on an entry visa application.

What this means is that we would make the application whilst they were physically outside of Hong Kong and promote the contention that their business planning was principally being undertaken ‘pro-forma’.

In this regard we would set out for the HKID exactly what the clients INTENDED to do once their visas were approved and allow the Immigration Department to rule on their case as though they were not yet landed in Hong Kong and so did not need to satisfy some of the more stringent requirements of the investment visa approvability test  (for example, taking immediately positive steps towards establising business premises or recruiting employees early on in the piece as the business plan, post approval, called for).

This approach was really necessitated by the fact that whilst the prototype was almost ready but it had been subject to several months of delays in Taiwan as they sought to overcome an unforseen engineering challenge. This had eaten into their ready reserves of capital and meant that they didn’t have too much excess capital beyond the first six months of operating expenses to fund their Hong Kong plan.

So, even though as UK citizens, they could have easily sat out the 2-3 months case processing time with their 180 days period of stay as visitors, it made  more sense for them to apply while they were outside of Hong Kong, which we did submitting the application directly to the 24/F entry employment (investment) section.

Their intention was to stay close the action in Taiwan as the prototype neared completion and if the timing lined up nicely, have their investment visa approved in Hong Kong at about that time they were ready to tool up for manufacturing at a factory in China which they had already contracted with.

After submission, the normal process played itself out. About 10 days later we received an official acknowledgement of receipt card from the HKD with the case reference number included. 10 days or so after that we got  a veritable laundry list requesting further and better particulars of our clients business plans for Hong Kong and next level detail of supplementing the quite considerable information and documentation that had been inclued in the original application bundle.

One key element of the HKID requests was proof of source of funds, as well as their amounts.

As our clients has been active in Taiwan, Hong Kong , China AND the UK since they had started work on their product, they had bank accounts scattered across these four countries and each account contained an element of the funding they would need for the purposes of their business plan.

This meant the HKID’s request for updated information was, certainly in the case of China, slightly problematic as it was not always possible to get an updated statement due to a lack of internet banking facilities on the accounts.

Another curve ball which was thrown into the case consideration process mix related to the sponsor of their application, an eminent professor at a Hong Kong university.

As the technical aspects of the application were extremely complex to fathom, it became apparent that the HKID needed to be able to rely on the express testimony of someone forming part of the application who was professionally qualified to speak to the validity of the engineering concept and also its significant potential in the market place once they had moved on to production.

As a result, the HKID came back as asked our clients sponsor to provide an professional opinion as to the engineering and commercial merits, which he did, and this box was ultimately ticked and the case progress further forward.

In addition, we received three phone calls out of the blue from the HKID officer tasked with the application who wanted us to confirm certain points on the application and supply updated information. All told, we counted 7 discrete sets of submission and interactions with the HKID on this case before it went on to be approved.

To complete the process, we collected the approved visa labels from the HKID on behalf of our client, couriered them to Taiwan and coordinated their arrival dates in Hong Kong so that we could make the appointments for their HKID cards the day after they arrived with their new residence visas.

Related Posts For Further Information

Hong Kong investment visas – 3 case examples which would not get approved

Hong Kong investment visas – what’s involved?

One man investment visa for Hong Kong – what’s required?

 

How about you? What kind of experience have you had in progressing an investment visa application with the Hong Kong Immigration Department?

The Visa Geeza on RTHK Radio Three – June 2012

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Musing, Refusals & Appeals, Visitor Visas / 9 responses

After a bit of confusion over scheduling, on the 11th of June I finally made it back to the studios at RTHK in Broadcast Drive to once again appear as a guest on Phil Whelan’s Morning Brew show. This morning we talked about a lot of stuff, but Phil was keen to press the issue of foreigners who spend a great deal of time in Hong Kong as visitors and what the Hong Kong Immigration Department make of their constant to-ing and fro-ing to extend their limit of stay. Phil also pushed me on my view as to what might actually be going on when high profile personalities are denied visas to come to the HKSAR.

You can listen to the session here.

I will be visiting Phil next sometime in July, date to be decided.

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

 

Listen To The Show

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The Visa Geeza on RTHK Radio Three – May 2012

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Musing, Special Programmes, Visitor Visas / 2 responses

On May 3rd Phil Whelan had me back on his Morning Brew show on Radio Three to talk about Hong Kong visa and immigration matters. It had been a while since I had seen him and spoken on the show, but it was as though almost nothing had changed (not least the stunning decor of the studio!).

You can listen to the session here

I will be visiting Phil next on June 11.

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

 

Listen To The Show

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