How Do Foreign National Children Resident In Hong Kong For 7 Years Go On To Acquire Permanent Residency Here?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Family Visas, Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / 2 responses

How Do Foreign National Children Resident In Hong Kong For 7 Years Go On To Acquire Permanent Residency Here?

The test for the right of abode for foreign national children resident in Hong Kong for 7 years is the same as for adults but the manifestation of that PR takes a slightly different form…

QUESTION

I’ve heard that our children can independently hold permanent residency once they turn 7.  Is this correct and if so, how do we go about applying for it?

Thanks!

ANSWER

Once a child that was not born in Hong Kong has lived here continuously prepared and not less than seven years and that child goes on to make an application to have his eligibility for a permanent identity card verified and that exercise involves exactly the same approvability test as is applied to adult counterparts that are also seeking to go ahead and secure the right of abode in Hong Kong.

So using the context of children that are naturally resident in Hong Kong with their parents, the evidence that’s submitted in support of that application is that they are together with their parents and that they are in school. And the Immigration Department take proof of schooling typically as being definitive evidence that they have been a continuously ordinarily residents in Hong Kong.

And of course they do check to see their whereabouts during that time, so insofar as the test goes, it is essentially the same as it is for adults when it comes to children. But the manifestation of the right of abode is reflected not in the issue of a permanent identity card. Because the child, if it’s under 11 years of age, can’t secure a permanent ID, can’t secure any kind of identity card.

Effectively once they get to 11 they get a juvenile ID card and that juvenile ID card states that the holder has the right of abode but prior to that the actuality of having had your very verification for eligibility for the right of abode is reflected in a sticker that’s placed in the back of the passport of the child and then the child then presents that at the boundaries and at the airport when the child is travelling and of course, the Immigration Department immediately admits the child on the strength of the child having the right of abode.

So that’s it it’s – an endorsement to the passport first until the issue of the first ID card where upon the permanent identity card is formally issued. The only wrinkle to that is that at the point of issuing the ID card at the age of 11, there will be a further examination to ensure that the child has remained continuously and ordinarily in Hong Kong.

Throughout the proceeding, say in this case three or four years, if the child had his eligibility verified at the age of seven and if the child has not been continuously and ordinarily resident in Hong Kong throughout all at that time and/or has been absent I should say from Hong Kong for more than three years at a stretch then the ID card that will be issued will be a right to land ID card and will not be a permanent identity card.

So eligibility can be verified through the placements of the sticker in the passport, but you still need to maintain your connections to Hong Kong under the basic law. Which means that a child must have been in Hong Kong on at least one occasion during the interim period over a course of three years in order to maintain eligibility for the right of abode and the issue of the permanent identity card accordingly.

Otherwise, as I’ve stated the child will be issued with an ID card that grants him the right to land.

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What Chance of Approval For A 3-6 Month Intern Visa For Hong Kong & What Documents Are Needed?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Your Question Answered / 16 responses

What Chance of Approval For A 3-6 Month Intern Visa For Hong Kong & What Documents Are Needed?

Intern visa for Hong Kong? Internships for foreign national students seeking experience in Hong Kong are getting ever more popular…

QUESTION

Hi,

Our company is trying to hire an intern on a short 3-6 months internship.

He holds a British passport.

If he meets all the criteria on the Hong Kong Immigration Website, will there be any chance he will still be rejected for the visa?

On top of it, the government requires the sponsoring company to be a well-established company, capable of providing the proposed training, how can we prove that when we apply for him?

Do you have any tips on helping an intern apply for a training visa successfully?

Many thanks.

ANSWER

Documents Referenced in the PodCast Answer & Needed for an Intern (Training) Visa Application

The Applicant

Application form ID992A

Copy of applicant passport bio details pages

Passport size photograph

Updated CV

Personal bank statement

School Transcript of Academic records

Supporting letter issued by the school printed on school letterhead

The Engaging Sponsor

Sponsorship Application form ID992B

Signed Internship Agreement

Copy of Business Registration Certificate

Certificate of Incorporation

Latest Audited Financial Statement

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Hong Kong Right Of Abode Application – Arguing Away Missing Periods Of Residence

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Hadley Says…, Long Stay & PR / 42 responses

This article presents solutions to missing periods of residence when it comes about a Hong Kong Right of Abode Application

The essential approvability test for a Hong Kong Right of Abode application is that you have been continuously and ordinarily resident in the HKSAR for a period of not less than 7 years AND that you have taken concrete steps towards making Hong Kong your ONLY place of permanent residence.

“Continuously”, for the purposes of the test, effectively means that any absences from Hong Kong during that time were temporary and lasted less than 6 months.

Moreover, at the time you departed it must have been your intention to be absent temporarily only – as evidenced by what you leave behind in Hong Kong to return back to at the end of your temporary sojourn abroad.

The application form ROP 145 specifically asks for details, with reasons, in respect of any absences of more than 6 months, otherwise the Hong Kong Immigration Department do not expressly raise the issue – unless it is obvious, that you have indeed spent a great deal of time continuously outside of Hong Kong during the requisite 7 years.

And the collection of documents you submit in support of your application should effectively envelope any missing periods of residence and should consist of Hong Kong tax returns, proof of accommodation, official bills, employment confirmations and, ideally, your Statement of Travel Records for the entire time you have lived in Hong Kong.

Oh, and you need to ensure that you have no outstanding taxation liabilities here as well – otherwise, your case will simply not be approved!

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Employment Visa: Does Your Employer Control Your Hong Kong Immigration Destiny?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says… / 5 responses

No way, for sure not  – it simply is not the way the process works…

Your Hong Kong employment visa belongs to you, not your employer. They are just responsible for the sponsorship.

If the relationship with your employer sours for any reason and your employment terminates this is what happens to your visa:

– Your privilege to work ceases. You can no longer engage in any employment without making a new application to the HKID first.

– Your privilege to reside continues. The HKID will ordinarily allow you to remain in Hong Kong until your current limit of stay expires, whereupon you are required to leave Hong Kong.

In the meantime, this usually affords you the time you need to take stock of your affairs and get yourself back in the driving seat en route to a new employment in Hong Kong.

The HKID do not engage in any blame games as to why a sponsored employment has come to an end and only look forward not backwards

So don’t be intimidated by an errant employer who believes they have some kind of leverage over you as the sponsor of your employment visa.

The reality is, they have no such leverage whatsoever and you are a free agent for visa purposes and have nothing to worry about in this regard.

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Am I Compelled To Apply For Hong Kong Permanent Residency After 7 Years Or Can I Maintain The Status Quo Of My Present Employment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / 3 responses

Once you have achieved 7 years continuous ordinary residence in Hong Kong, your long stay immigration options open up considerably…

QUESTION

My current working visa is due to expire at the end of  September, (previously I was given an extension of 3 years in 2010), this I assume was so that I would be valid for Hong Kong Permanent Residency, (as I have been here for over 7 years now).

My question is should I seek Hong Kong Permanent Residency and/or can I just continue to add an extension to my working visa if I don’t want Hong Kong Permanent Residency?

 In addition, for either of these cases, do I have to always change/add my wife’s and 2 children’s passports visa extension to reflect these changes, (my wife would have been here for 6 years and my kids were born here in 2008 and 2011 (do they also become PR’s on the back of me?)

ANSWER

This is a great question and slightly unusual inasmuch as the vast majority of foreign nationals who spend their time in Hong Kong see the Right of Abode and Permanent Residency as a sort of the ultimate end goal. But you do raise some fascinating topics and I’m really pleased to have the opportunity to address them for you.

The bottom line is that no, you absolutely do not have to apply for Permanent Residency. Once you’ve gotten across the seven-year hurdle, by no means at all are you forced to do that or indeed anything. If you wish to maintain your current employment visa on an ongoing basis, then you just go through the process of extending your employment visa in September of this year, using the normal processes – you could use our visa extension kit to this end to do that, and you’d expect the immigration department would more than likely give you a three-year period of stay.

Given that you are eligible for the Right of Abode, you are certainly not compelled. I mean, a key thing about the ride of abode is that you need to put your hand on your heart and make a declaration that you’re taking Hong Kong as your only place of permanent residence. So if you can’t genuinely do that for good – reason the question is begged as to what happens come September, do you in fact need to extend your current employment visa, which at all times will require the support of your current employer? You do, in fact have another option, and that is to apply for Unconditional Stay.

This effectively is very much a similar test to the Right of Abode where you have to show that you’ve been continuously an ordinarily resident in Hong Kong for a period of not less than seven years. On the basis you pass that approvability test, then the immigration department will avail you of a status called Unconditional Stay, which means, effectively you can stay here unconditionally, and you don’t require the consent of your existing employer.

In respect of extending an employment visa, you remove all conditions to your current limit of stay including a limit of time, and then they will endorse your passport to say that effectively you’ve got Unconditional Stay and that you can live here unconditionally. The only condition associated to your Unconditional Stay is that you need to be present physically in Hong Kong on at least one occasion in any twelve month given period.

So, effectively with Unconditional Stay you can come and go, you can work for anybody, you can join in the business, you can engage in any lawful activity just so long as you do it in Hong Kong on the basis of you having been here for on at least one occasion in any twelve month given period.

Thus, for that status of Unconditional Stay which is just an administrative convenience on the part of the Immigration Department rather than a right (as it would be under the Right of Abode), there’s no requirement for you to make any declarations as to having taken Hong Kong as your only place of permanent residence. So you may find that useful.

In terms of your family members, the reality is that every single one of your family members, both your two children and your wife are going to have to qualify for the Right of Abode by themselves inasmuch as they will have to get to seven years continuous ordinary residence and they will then have to make applications to the effect that they’ve taken Hong Kong as their only place of permanent residence and go on to secure the Right of Abode.

Similarly after seven years, you can make applications for them to have Unconditional Stay status so that it would accord with yours, on the basis that your family members do continue to remain in Hong Kong with you whilst or after you’ve adjusted your immigration status potentially to Unconditional Stay or the Right of Abode, they’re going to have to continue their current dependent visa status through to such a time that they qualify for either unconditional stay or ride of abode in their own right. Nothing will happen automatically just because you’ve changed your own immigration status. They have to earn it independently of you as. So they would get extensions to their dependent visas until such a time as they be able to make an application for either as I say, unconditional stay or the right of abode in their own right subsequently. Okay, I hope you found that useful. Bye.

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Will A Criminal Record Impact On Your Application For A Hong Kong Residence Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Hadley Says…, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Refusals & Appeals, Special Programmes, Visitor Visas / 151 responses

Practice Update 2026 – This content must be read in light of changes to ImmD practice since it was  last updated

Under Hong Kong immigration practice, the procedural landscape surrounding criminal history declarations has fundamentally transformed, moving from historical silence to mandatory universal disclosure across all residence and entry categories. In Will A Criminal Record Impact On Your Application For A Hong Kong Residence Visa?, Stephen Barnes, the Hong Kong Visa Geeza, explains that following major policy overhauls by the Immigration Department, the days of avoiding character declarations are long gone. Every applicant seeking entry for employment, investment, study, or family dependency must now explicitly disclose prior criminal convictions worldwide, irrespective of whether those offenses are deemed “spent” or rehabilitated under the domestic laws of the applicant’s home jurisdiction. While the existence of a past conviction does not create an automatic, statutory bar to entry, it fundamentally shifts the case officer’s discretionary calculus. The department conducts a rigorous, multi-layered risk assessment evaluating the gravity of the offense, the sentence imposed, the elapsed time, and evidence of subsequent rehabilitation. Concealing a conviction or making false declarations on official forms constitutes an independent criminal offense under the Immigration Ordinance, virtually guaranteeing immediate refusal, permanent adverse blacklisting, and potential prosecution. To examine how contemporary entry facilitation frameworks interact with these uncompromising security and character screening standards, Stephen Barnes provides the definitive analysis in Practice Update: The 2026 Immigration Facilitation Scheme – Short-Term Work for Visitors to Hong Kong.

The essential operational reality highlighted in the Practice Update is that while the regularised and expanded Short-Term Visitor Facilitation Scheme—spanning 18 designated sectors as of 1 October 2026—removes conventional employment visa burdens for brief assignments, it offers no exemption from baseline admissibility and good character thresholds. Under the facilitation arrangements, qualifying international specialists invited by roughly 490 government-endorsed host organisations can lawfully undertake specified professional activities for up to 14 consecutive calendar days without a full work visa. However, an institutional invitation letter is not an entry visa, nor does it override border control protocols. Examining officers at boundary control points retain unfettered statutory discretion to refuse entry to any arriving traveler whose criminal background, adverse immigration history, or prior convictions pose a security or character concern. As Stephen Barnes makes abundantly clear across both publications, whether an individual is pursuing a multi-year employment visa under the General Employment Policy or arriving for a brief two-week lecture series under the short-term facilitation scheme, transparency remains paramount: criminal records must be fully declared where required, and statutory facilitation can never be leveraged as a backchannel to circumvent Hong Kong’s uncompromising character requirements.

This article tries to clarify the impact of a criminal record on your application for a Hong Kong residence visa

Used to be no – but now the game has completely changed.

Criminal records now must be disclosed across all visa types.

Every now and again the question of criminal convictions and the impact they have on the Hong Kong visa process raises its head. Hadley here waxes lyrical on this subject and surprisingly, has quite a lot to say!

Criminal Record Impact On Your Application For A Hong Kong Residence Visa – Is Your Conviction Already Spent?

Of course, the million dollar question right now is will the existence of a prior criminal conviction automatically disqualify an applicant? If not, what is the threshold? Will ‘spent’ convictions need to be disclosed?

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I Want To Live In Hong Kong With My Boyfriend – Is The Working Holiday Visa A Viable Option?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Special Programmes, Your Question Answered / 10 responses

Sometimes, the sun and the moon align beautifully on a set of circumstances to allow an unmarried couple to spend time together in Hong Kong when ordinarily visa circumstances conspire against them. Not on this occasion, however!

QUESTION

“Hi there,

I have just recently returned from Hong Kong to Canada where I am a citizen.

My boyfriend lives in Hong kong and I have travelled there 3 times in the past 2 years to see him only as a quick 2 week holiday each time.

Covid is a problem for us now obviously.

We frequently talk about me moving to hong kong to live together.

Obviously if I was to live in Hong Kong I would have to find work and have an income. I guess the reason for me sending you this message is to find out which is the best visa application for me to look into?  

I had hoped to maybe stay there for up to 1 year.”

ANSWER

In your situation, it would seem that the working holiday visa would be the ideal solution for you.

The working holiday visa is available to Canadian citizens as well as to a number of other different nationals, and the premise of the working holiday visa is to allow the holder a primary intention to holiday in Hong Kong and it’s available to you if you’re aged between 18 and 30 and that you can show sufficient proof of having – in the case of a Canadian, HKD15,000 in your bank account to fund your proposed stay in Hong Kong.

You also need to show that you have a return air ticket when you arrive and also that you have got medical and comprehensive hospitalisation and liability insurance in your name. On the basis that you can satisfy these requirements, you can get a working holiday visa.

The working holiday visa effectively gives you a twelve-month limit of stay in Hong Kong where you can come to work for up to four employers during your time in Hong Kong, with an absolute maximum of three month stay for each employer.

And there is a quota. So, you do have to get your application in good order each year, and the quota for Canadian citizen is 200.

Making the application is very straightforward: you can download the application form from the website – the requisite link is attached to this post on the blog so that you can know where to go for the information, you submit the application directly to Immigration Tower by post. NB, you must be in Canada at the time that you will file this application and you must be ordinarily resident in Canada at the time. But as you’re a citizen- as stated in your question, I don’t think that’s a problem.

Therefore, on the basis that there’s quota available and you can show that you’ve got the money and that you are applying whilst you’re in Canada and you’re ordinarily resident in Canada, I don’t see any problems as to you moving forward with a successful application for a working holiday visa.

It would certainly appear to be the suitable solution in your circumstances given that you only intend to stay for one year in any event; and certainly in that time, it will then allow you to get some relationships moving with employers and understand how Hong Kong operates from an employment perspective, and assuming that you qualify separately for an employment visa in due course, on the basis you can get yourself a job offer, then reason why you could entertain, subsequently, an application for a full employment visa in your own right, once your working holiday visa term has come to an end.

I think that’s a solution for you. All the best!

The Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa Information on the Hong Kong Immigration Department Website

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