Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

Hong Kong Employment Visa – Do You Need a Degree?

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

No, you don’t always need a degree to get an employment visa for Hong Kong.

Definitely not!

But instead, you have to have a lot of experience in your particular line of work.

The Hong Kong Immigration Department are looking for special skills, knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available in Hong Kong. Not just a degree!

It’s really all about ‘human capital’ and keeping Hong Kong’s economy competitive.

If you genuinely have talent and experience, it doesn’t matter whether you have letters after your name or not!

More Stuff to Help You Along

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

What you should NOT do when extending your Hong Kong employment visa

10 Must Have resources for a successful Hong Kong working visa application

You Accidentally Overstay Your Hong Kong Employment Visa Yet Need to Change Employer – What Happens Now?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Your Question Answered / 2 responses

First Published February 8, 2015

Accidentally overstay your Hong Kong employment visa?- What happens to you when  seek to change your employment visa sponsor but realise you have accidentally let your current visa expire without seeking an extension of stay?

QUESTION

Hi Stephen,

I ended my employment in Hong Kong at the beginning of January.

I looked for work and eventually found and got offered a job, still in Hong Kong, to start in March.

I thought everything was going well. I went in on the 1st of February to sort out the application for the work visa, and they sit me down…

They told me my previous work visa had expired on the 24th of January.

Now, this shocked me. In all the searching and transition to the new job I had completely forgotten to check my old visa.

I had come back after Christmas and assumed I was on a Visitor visa, or that my Employment visa hadn’t run out, because I was allowed back in after my return at Xmas.

I hadn’t checked. This is totally my fault and my mistake, I had completely forgotten.

My new company told me to go straight to Immigration, present myself, put in my new visa application with profuse apologies and explain myself.

I did that, they shouted at me threatening imprisonment.

I had to write a letter to the Director of Immigration explaining what happened.

I did all this, and afterwards the Officer said that was all for today and that they would send a letter to my company in 4-6 weeks.

They let me go with my passport and Hong Kong ID Card, and in my passport is a card with an application reference.

I have no idea what happens now.

They didn’t stamp my passport to allow me to leave the country, so I can’t go and return as a Visitor.

I am here with no visa, and I’m worried that if my work visa is denied, or I am stopped in the meantime, they will imprison me because I stayed here even longer.

No one at my new company is concerned, either because they don’t care or they don’t know. They are backing me and want me to work for them, but that’s it.

So, in your experience, what could happen now? What can I do to find out? How can I protect myself?

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

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

10 ‘Must Have’ resources for a successful Hong Kong work visa application

Will a criminal record impact on your ability to get a residence visa for Hong Kong?

Can you have 2 employment visa applications for Hong Kong pending at the same time?

I hate my boss and want to leave my job – what happens to my Hong Kong work visa?

PODCAST ANSWER

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