Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

Can I Apply for a Residence Visa for Hong Kong While I Am Visiting?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Hadley Says…, Investment Visas, Special Programmes / 2 responses

In making your decision about making your Hong Kong residence visa application from inside or outside of Hong Kong you really need to consider:

• That some types of visa applications such as Mainland Talents and Permanent Residency require you to be specifically inside or outside of Hong Kong when you apply but for most cases it doesn’t matter where you are.

• As a visitor, how many days are you allowed to remain in Hong Kong each stay as it take 7-8 weeks for a residence visa application to be finalised and you don’t want to be running across to Shenzhen or Macau every 1 or 2 weeks to get your visitor visa extended as you wait for the Hong Kong ID to tell you the result.

• You are not advantaged or disadvantaged in any way by where you are when your application is submitted as the HKID will treat the case the same way in any event.

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Is it possible to get an extension to my Hong Kong visitor visa to stay with my girlfriend here?

Can I Apply for a Visa After I Have Moved to Hong Kong or Should I Apply Beforehand?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas / 2 responses

In some cases, you simply must be outside of Hong Kong to apply. In others, you definitely have to be in Hong Kong on the day your application is filed. It all depends. There are pros and cons and a lot depends on your nationality too!

More Stuff to Help You Along

I have been made redundant but my wife is working – can we swap our Hong Kong employment and spouse visas around so I can become her dependant in Hong Kong?

What’s a suitable Hong Kong visa and immigration strategy for a highly accomplished professional trailing unmarried partner?

The Visa Geeza on RTHK Radio 3 – January 2013

The perils of contriving a job offer just for the purposes of a Hong Kong employment visa application

The industry secret most Hong Kong immigration consultants don;t want you to discover

Is There a Base Salary Requirement for a Hong Kong Employment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas / No responses

Effectively, yes, there is. The target sum that you’re looking for is about 200,000 Hong Kong dollars a year. However, this sum is not in of itself, definitive. We’ve seen approvals down at the HKD186,000 level. And this amount is NOT the value of the cash salary to be paid. No, the HKD200,000 can amount to the total value of the employment each year.

More Stuff You May Find Helpful

What’s the deal about advertising your job locally before applying for a Hong Kong employment visa?

Can I come and install equipment without a Hong Kong employment visa?

10 Must Have resources for a Hong Kong working visa application

The 7 things your employer needs to know about the Hong Kong employment visa application process

What’s the basic income for a typical Hong Kong employment visa holder?

Shareholder in the Company Employing You? What the Hong Kong Immigration Department Think…

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas, Investment Visas / 4 responses

There really is no such thing as visa self-sponsorship if you are an entrepreneur seeking permissions to join in your own business in Hong Kong. You either work for an independent third party employer, or you are working for yourself (or possibly in partnership with one or 2 others). The Immigration Department will look through your efforts to mask the shareholding.

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Hong Kong  investment visas – the Complete D-I-Y Guide

Hong Kong employment visa – the Complete D-I-Y Guide

Why do ImmD prefer a Hong Kong limited liability company to underpin a Hong Kong investment visa application?

How onerous is the sponsorship role in a business investment visa application?

Is there such an animal as a ‘flexible’ working visa in Hong Kong?

‘Temporary’ Hong Kong Investment Visa Approvals – What Does it Mean?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Investment Visas / 2 responses

If your Hong Kong investment visa has been approved but the Hong Kong Immigration Department believe your application was marginal, you can expect your visa to be subject to Business Review the first time that it comes up for extension.

An investment visa approved subject to Business Review is bitter-sweet.

Further Content for More Information

Hong Kong investment visa where the funding was running out

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

Hong Kong investment visas – what’s involved?

How to apply for a Hong Kong investment visa without paying for any professional help

How onerous is the sponsorship role in a Hong Kong investment visa application?

I’ve Lost My Job – What Happens to My Hong Kong Employment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas, Investment Visas / 3 responses

You will not get kicked out of Hong Kong now that you’re no longer working for the sponsor of your current employment visa.

Instead, you need to approach the Immigration Department to change employers (which is an employment visa application) or establish or join in a new business (an investment visa application).

This short presentation sets out the road ahead now that the visa landscape has shifted from under your feet.

More Stuff to Help You Along

Are there any advantages to being an existing resident when you make an application for a Hong Kong investment visa?

Do I need to work for the same employer in order to get the right of abode in Hong Kong?

Your employer must help you get your Hong Kong employment visa 

What’s the story when you hold a Hong Kong work visa and face redundancy?

I’ve lost my job – will I get kicked out of Hong Kong?

Realistically, What is the Minimum Number of Points for a Shot at a QMAS Approval?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Special Programmes, Your Question Answered / 12 responses

The Quality Migrant Admission Scheme attracts a lot of interest from the Asian subcontinent, ostensibly because of the ‘if-you-don’t-try-you’ll-never-know’  nature of the programme along with the facts that it costs next to nothing in official fees to apply (compared with, say, Australia where you seemingly have to mortgage your first born in fees to the government even to put an application into the system).

QUESTION

“Mr Barnes, I got to know about your company through some discussions on immigration thread.

Let me introduce myself, am Chirag, 52 years, from Mumbai, India.

Have experience of around 15+ years in areas of marketing/advertising/sales/business development.

Would like to know if I would qualify for QMAS visa.

I have already done the free assessment for visa. I scored 90 points. Details are:

Age – 0 points

Qualifications-bachelor/professional qualification – 30 points  (secured First Class Degree from Mumbai University; also have post-graduate diploma in marketing & sales management).

Experience – 50 points  (my experience of 15 years in the above field).

Language proficiency – 10 points (IELTS exam, band 6.

I would like to know, what are my chances in getting a visa.

I wish to use your services.”

ANSWER

Hello Chirag,

With only 90 points it would appear unlikely that you will receive approval under the QMAS programme.

Our policy is to advise clients to have a minimum of 125 point to be in the running. It is a very competitive Scheme with over 100 applicants each month.

However, if you don’t apply you will never know, but with just 90 points I’m afraid we would be reluctant to accept your case as we would not wish for you to waste your money on our fees when we simply don’t have a strong sense that you would be approved.

In this respect I would advise you to follow the free advice contained in the Hong Kong Visa Handbook, starting with the Visa Information material.

May I wish you the best of luck in your application.

More Stuff You May Find Interesting Or Useful

10 Must Have resources for a Quality Migrant Admission Scheme application

Finally, the HKID shed some light on what constitutes talent for the purposes of a QMAS approval

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

Is the Hong Kong QMAS programme just too competitive to be realistic?

The visa dilemma of an unmarried trailing partner seeking to work in Hong Kong