Can I Extend The 3 Years Needed To Keep My Right of Abode In Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Feature Article, Long Stay & PR, Musing, VG Front Page / 82 responses

Can I Extend The 3 Years Needed To Keep My Right of Abode In Hong Kong?

Will ImmD Make An Exception For Me?

 

Can I extend the 3 years needed to keep my Right of Abode in Hong Kong? I originally published this video in January 2022, when we were very much ‘peak Covid’ in Hong Kong. I shot the video in response to dozens of emails each week from permanent residents who had been absent or were coming up for being absent from Hong Kong continuously for three years because of the pandemic.

Can You?

The question essentially amounts to this.

Can the Immigration Department make an exception for those foreign nationals who originally secured permanent residency after seven years of continuous ordinary residence, but for one reason or another, find themselves away from Hong Kong during the pandemic for an extended period of three years?

Namely, any chance of them being able to get some sort of waiver or other dispensation due to the challenges that COVID is bringing to everyone’s ability to get back to Hong Kong quarantine-free?

Unfortunately, the Director of Immigration doesn’t have the power to waive the one-in-3-year rule as the Right of Abode is an instrument of the Basic Law.

This means that unless and until as a permanent resident in Hong Kong, the foreign national permanent resident of Hong Kong you have been physically present in Hong Kong on at least one occasion in any three-year given period, you will be by operation of law automatically downgraded to the Right to Land if you are unable to get back here for the one in three-year criteria.

There is an occasional exception where the absence is involuntary, such as imprisonment or extended hospitalization.

So what does the loss of Right of Abode after 3 years mean in real terms?

Well, actually, the Right to Land downgrade that occurs, while sits, you know, disappointing in order to say something positive about that bottom line is that the rights that accompany the right time, that’s the right to work, the right to respond to family members who are dependent loses the right to sponsor, elderly parents who depend on these as some of the other rights that accrue with the Right of Abode are not lost.

You do not have the right not to be deported, but you can’t be removed from Hong Kong.

Functionally, the Right to Land is the same as the Right of Abode, albeit you can be deported.

The difference for the most part practically falls to whether or not as a permanent resident holding the Right of Abode you can qualify for things like the scheme HKD6000 and other free money giveaways that the government occasionally avails to Hong Kong to permanent residents.

It’s those types of things but in a very pure practical sense, if you are downgraded to the right to land essentially it means you can come back to Hong Kong at any point in the process and pick up your life from wherever you left it off.

You don’t need any permission from the Hong Kong Immigration Department to do that.

Seven years of continuous residence later, you can then subsequently apply for Right of Abode once again.

 

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VisaGeeza.Ai – Making Hong Kong Immigration A Lot Easier

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How Important Is A Good Set Of Financial Projections In A Hong Kong Business Investment Visa Application?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Your Question Answered / No responses

Business Investment Visa Application | Financials You Will Need To Show To ImmD

What’s Required?

 

ImmD expect to be able to take a view of a proposed new from 39,000 feet and for this a good set of financial projections are expected to form part of a business investment visa application.

QUESTION

Does the Immigration Department look for forecasts for profitability and actually estimates of employee hiring?

I have written in my business plan a general outline of positions I intend to hire, and some initial support staff in the first year, but this is in a description format rather than a list.

Welcome your thoughts and many thanks!

ANSWER

The very quick answer to this question is that yes the Immigration department does look to see how the fortunes of your business over the coming three years will fair and obviously to that end you need to include a forecast for profitability.

And included inside your forecast for profitability in the three years’ numbers that you put together will be indications of the hires that you expect to bring on board, clearly what you’re hoping to or expecting to pay them. And when in the three years they will factor into the recruitment mix.

So, in your plan it’s fine that you’ve described when you think these recruitments are going to occur and what they’re going to look like, but more importantly you really should encapsulate the projected financial performance on all heads in a good set of three year financials.

We use a standard template that we supplied to our clients to allow them to go about producing this set of financial so I’m pleased to include this template that’s part to this post for you and your use.

Okay, I hope you find this useful.

 

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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?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Your Question Answered / 13 responses

Hong Kong Employment and Spouse Visas – Can You Swap?

First Published February 27, 2013

How Flexible Is The Hong Kong Immigration Department?

It’s a situation that seems to happen all too frequently these days, especially in the banking sector. Can a married couple, both working, effectively swap their Hong Kong employment and spouse visas around?

QUESTION

Thank you for all your insight to the working of the Hong Kong Immigration Department that I find very useful.

I do have one question regarding my situation:

I have an employment visa valid till 10 June 2013. I have been made redundant from the job that sponsored this visa and currently am not working.

My wife has a dependant visa also valid till 10 June 2013.

She is working for a major US international insurance concern with a big operation here.

Her salary is HKD25,000 per month with MPF,  a 13th month bonus and an extraordinary HKD25,000 bonus paid usually paid in December.

I have a small pension from my home country of HKD 5,000 monthly.

We intend to ask that her dependent visa be converted to an employment visa and mine from an employment visa to a dependent visa.

My wife is a Singaporean, she has a US work visa (expired) and a UK business visa stamped in her passport.

Do you think Immigration will likely grant this change and should I submit my request for a dependent visa with her employment visa at the same time , or wait till her employment visa is granted and then request my dependent visa.

I am a citizen of Austria.

Thanks for all your feedback and great work on your web site.

 

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Will My Hong Kong Employment Visa be Compromised If I Leave My Job Due to Intolerable Working Conditions?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Your Question Answered / No responses

Hong Kong Employment Visa Lost If You Have a Terrible Boss & Want To Leave?

What’s The Risk To Your Hong Kong Employment Visa?

Should you be worried that your employment visa status in Hong Kong might be undermined if you choose to leave the employ of an unsavoury employer?

QUESTION

Hello, my current employer and visa sponsor is a small business, and my working conditions are intolerable – twice the amount of hours than stated on the contract, poor pay, fines for sick days off and unexplained additional fines deducted from my salary without notice nor explanation, plus late payment of salary.

I have been with them for seven months and paid to get here myself.

They have also asked me to lie to the inland revenue to say my contract started two months after it did – because it took me two months to get a free day to go to Macau and activate my visa.

It’s all very shabby.

Three other similar staff have ‘left in the night’ because there is a HK$25,000 fee to leave the contract (plus work two months unpaid, and pay another undisclosed fee for leaving without serving two months notice).

I have another company who will sponsor me and I would like to know if I can release my sponsorship with my present employer myself, or do they have the power to refuse the release and transfer of my visa to another company?

Can they stop me working anywhere else if I walk?

I can not continue working in these conditions, but I do not want to leave Hong Kong and I have other employers waiting.

Am I trapped please?

Thank you very much in advance for any advice you can give.

ANSWER

Not being an employment lawyer I can’t offer any comment as to your remedies for the seemingly intolerable situation you find yourself in.

As regards your employment contract with your current employer I suggest that you contact the Labor Department for some provisional information on how to deal with the problems that you’re facing in that employment.

Or indeed obviously contact an employment lawyer. However, in so far as immigration goes you’re on the pretty much safe ground in so far as if you determine for one reason or another that you wish to cease working for your current employer and you wish to make an application to take up employment with a new employer, then that’s all perfectly doable.

The Immigration Department doesn’t hold you to any particular employer and the employment visa is personable to you. It doesn’t accrue to the employer so your current employer has no means of in a sense holding a gun to your head as regards your ability to stay in Hong Kong due to the fact that you no longer want to work in those intolerable working conditions.

As part and parcel of any employment visa change of sponsorship application for that’s what it would be, you’d have to submit a copy of your resignation letter or possibly a document in writing from your current employer indicating when your exact final date of employment while so that the Immigration Department can demarcate your old employment through to your new employment and adjust the sponsorship of your visa accordingly.

As long as you’re moving from one employment type to a similar employment type that is it’s like for like employment and that the minimum salary and compensation levels are being met under the general employment policy – give or take about sixteen thousand Hong Kong dollars a month. And of course, your new employer, proposed new employer is deemed by the Immigration Department to be a suitable and credible sponsor.

Then in those circumstances, your immigration status should be readily adjustable without too much of a do.

So, no you and you’re not locked into this particular employer and if you want to leave, do so. Address whatever problems you’ve got from the contract perspective through the use of the proper channels. But in so far as immigration goes you’ll be more than capable of making that adjustment if for immigration sponsorship without too many problems at all.

Okay, good luck with it all and I hope you found this useful.

 

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Will Vocational Rather Than Academic Qualifications Satisfy ImmD When Making a Hong Kong Work Visa Application?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Uncategorized, Your Question Answered / No responses

Hong Kong Work Visa

Is A Degree An Absolute Pre-Requisite?

Is it always absolutely necessary to call upon a university degree qualification in order to get a Hong Kong work visa application approved?

QUESTION

I have found a job here and am now in the process of applying for a Hong Kong work visa.

It is a Quality Assurance position in the garment business.

My qualification  (garment / fashion design) is from a French polytechnique which is vocational and not academic in nature.

I have 20 years of professional experience which I can readily prove with letters of references etc.

Further I am French and hence can speak French which is necessary because my employer is a French joint-venture company.

I heard that an academic degree is necessary for a Hong Kong work visa and that applications can be rejected for that reason.

Is there anything that can be done to maximize the chances to get the Hong Kong work visa all things considered?

In case of a rejection, is there a possibility to apply again?

ANSWER

In order to be deemed a professional for the purposes of the general employment policy in Hong Kong, which is the policy under which the Immigration Department issue employment visas to foreign nationals, there is an expectation that you will be a university degree holder with at least 2 years post-graduation working experience in the managerial or supervisory capacity to expect approval as I say as a professional.

However, on occasion if you don’t have formal degree qualifications but you have something less than a degree, say technical qualifications, then the Immigration Department will accept those technical qualifications in lieu of a degree qualification, if your post qualification working experience is at least 5 years as opposed to 2 under the degree, so that’s 5 years for technical qualifications.

So, given that you appear to have technical qualifications in garment and fashion design, and you have got 20 years of professional experience thereafter, it’s fair to say that the Immigration Department will certainly treat you as a professional for the purposes of the general employment policy, and on the basis that your job offer is coming from a suitable and credible sponsor, and that the compensation that’s being offered to you is broadly commensurate with market rates for a position such as that which has been offered to you, and the amount of experience that you have being commensurate with the pay that you’re receiving again for that work that you’re going to be doing, then the Immigration Department won’t refuse your visa on the strength of the nature of your qualifications in your circumstances, so, I won’t worry about that too much.

And in terms of rejection what I’ve done to answer your question is included a number of links at the bottom of this post which speak to the arrangements that you can follow if unfortunately, your visa doesn’t get approved after you’ve applied for it.

Okay I hope you found that useful.

 

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Do I Need An Employment Visa Even If I Will Be In Hong Kong For Just 2 Weeks To Complete A Consulting Assignment?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Visitor Visas, Your Question Answered / 4 responses

Do You Need An Employment Visa For Short Term Work In Hong Kong?

Yes, No, Maybe …

First Published August 29, 2021

 

A foreign national seeking to come to Hong Kong to work, paid or unpaid, for a long or short duration, requires the permission of the Hong Kong Director of Immigration.

QUESTION

Dear Stephen

Your on-line book is very clear and helpful. I just need to clarify my position – and you must get lots of these type of questions.

I am a UK based one person limited company and have been asked by a major design company with a business based in Hong Kong to undertake 10 – 15 days consulting work in HK – as a one-off exercise.

I will not be setting up business in Hong Kong and will return to the UK at the end of the visit.

Can this be done under the visitor visa and do I need anything additional such as a work permit?

Thank you

UPDATE: Short Term Employment As A Visitor

 

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Can I Go From A Hong Kong Investment Visa To An Employment Visa And Back To An Investment Visa Again?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Investment Visas, Your Question Answered / No responses

To & Fro From A Hong Kong Investment Visa

Is It Possible?

Entrepreneurship is a fluid beast!

QUESTION

Hello,

I was on an investment visa for a year when I started my own business and then took on a full time role with another company. 

I was transferred to an employment visa. 

I am now considering leaving this role and going back to actively work in my business. 

Can I apply for an investment visa for a second time or does it simply get transferred to my own company as an employment visa?

ANSWER

This is a really great question and I’m so grateful to you for asking it.

I have seen this situation probably a dozen times in the last 20 years and in every single instance the Immigration Department have come to the party and have indeed allowed a previous investment visa holder who has then changed status to an employment visa and who then has a change of heart and decides that paid employment is not really for them and they wish to go back to their own business pursuits once more and the Immigration Department have approved these applications as I say. So there’s no reason to suggest that you won’t be successful in your application, too.

The way that you go about it is to effectively treat the application as a change of category application going back from employment visa sponsored by a third-party through to business investment on the strength of your own Enterprise in Hong Kong.

The approvability test is just the same as it always is for an investment visa, that is, in light of your present circumstances given that you once, in a sense, put your business on the shelf while you went off to work for another employer, your business now moving forward, if the Immigration Department allow you to do so, will mean that you can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong.

I’ve dealt with the investment visa approvability test ad nauseam elsewhere on the blog, so I’ll let you go and research that and understand effectively what’s required from you to to be successful. But as the essential premise of your investment visa activities were originally approved, it’s certainly feasible to expect that you’ll get approved this time around. You’ll certainly need to have the requisite level of resources. You’re going to have to have a pathway to the creation of local employment opportunities once again, and you’re going to have business premises that are suitable for you and your proposed activities.

The Immigration Department will effectively put you to that test, and I think, as I say, it’s fair for you to be able to pass it. But you’re also going to have to, sort of plug the gap as to kind of what happened, whilst you were an employee in the business, assuming as I mentioned, it was probably on the shelf in the meantime. But talk to the Immigration Department about how you, sort of put the business into deep freeze and that you are now ready to sort of bring it out into the open and go for it one more time.

So, just as I say the key thing is to pass the approvability tests all over again. The fact that you had an investment visa once previously, augers well on the basis that you can explain the gap as to what happened to the business during the time that you were an employee and that on the basis the Immigration Department approve you to join in this business one more time and you can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong.

Do it on the fifth floor of immigration tower via a change of category application and you should take between 4 and 6 weeks to finalize. If your current limits of stay has got less than six months on it, use not only the ID 999a application form, use also the ID 91, which will allow the immigration department once they approve, you to grant you an extension to the current limit of stay, by a further year. As I say, assuming that you’ve got less than six months remaining on your current limit of stay then include the ID 91.

Okay. I hope you found this useful.

 

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