Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

Do I Automatically Qualify For A Hong Kong Dependant Visa If My Partner Has A Work Or Investment Visa Here?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Family Visas, Hadley Says… / 12 responses

The rule for dependant visas in Hong Kong is very simple and easy to understand.

In order to qualify, the family members must be either the legal spouse or unmarried children under the age of 18.

Where the principal applicant is moving to Hong Kong for work or investment, the family members simply follow in his or her wake, securing dependant visas as an adjunct to the main application, just so long as the main applicant can, as part of the application process, demonstrate that, as a family, they can all have a roof over their head in Hong Kong and will have food on the table without recourse to any kind of public assistance.

All pretty logical and sensible really.

Moreover, once the visas have been granted, the period of stay the dependants receive mirrors that of their main family sponsor exactly all throughout their time together in Hong Kong.

This means that, for example, if the principal changes jobs or immigration status, the family’s dependant visas will carry on unaffected unless the Immigration Department specifically intervene and change their limits of stay.

But it is very unlikely they will change any of the conditions though, so you don’t have to worry too much about that.

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Married to a PHKID holder overseas – the Hong Kong visa situation for the foreign national spouse

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I have a PRC national spouse resident on the Mainland – can she get a dependant visa for Hong Kong?

Can I bring my elderly parents with me when I come to take up employment in Hong Kong?

Sometimes Large Employers Experience Hong Kong Employment Visa Refusals Too – Why Might This Be So?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says…, Refusals & Appeals / 8 responses

Most sizeable employers in Hong Kong have in house expertise when it comes to applying for employment visas for their foreign national staff.

And, unless they specifically outsource their immigration service needs to professional advisors, they are typically very comfortable in making and managing work visa applications when the need arises.

But sometimes, these applications can come a cropper!

You see, there are three types of employment visa cases which the Hong Kong Immigration Department see each and every working day.

These are cases which just the need the basic of administration, which otherwise require a lot of argument, or are a hybrid of the 2.

In 99% percent of all cases with a large employer sponsoring the application, the case tends to be just administrative in nature, meaning the forms must be filled in properly, the simple set of  supporting documentation presented in good order and the applicant is obviously  a ‘professional’ for the purposes of the General Employment Policy under Hong Kong immigration law.

The problem lies in the 1% of cases which are not just administrative but actually fall elsewhere on the argumentation-administration axis.

So, when employment visa applications sponsored by large employers get refused, it is always down to this reality: the internal human resources executive tasked with getting the visa has not understood the need to argue for an approval and has assumed that it is mostly just a matter of filling in the forms, just like always.

What’s The Minimum Capital Required For A Hong Kong Business Investment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Hadley Says…, Investment Visas / 7 responses

The Business Investment Visa in Hong Kong is different from the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme.

The former requires an applicant to establish or join in a Hong Kong business actively, while the latter is just a matter of passively investing in the HKSAR.

The Capital Investment Entrant Scheme requires at least ten million Hong Kong dollars while the Business Investment Visa does not require any such minimum.

Instead, you need to have sufficient capital to give effect to a business plan which  will demonstrate to the Hong Kong Immigration Department that you can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong.

Of course, this is like asking how long is a piece of string.

So, instead of focusing on a specific minimum number, it is better to produce a set of financial projections that show the following:

1          You can finance the first 12 months of your business and life in Hong Kong using your investment funds through until such a time as you have revenues, then profits, coming into your company.

2         You can create at least 1 or 2 local jobs in the first 12 to 18 months of operation – and have the money to fund your business through to this time – and beyond.

3         You have sufficient capital to give effect to your overall business plan such that it stands a reasonable chance of becoming a solidly entrenched commercial entity in its own right before too long.

So it all depends on your business plan, your prior experience and the overall story.

Business investment visas can be approved with cash in the bank at just 300,000 or 400,000 Hong Kong dollars if your story is a good one but be aware, bottom scraping should be avoided at all costs if you want to sleep well at night whilst the Immigration department are considering your application!

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Is It Possible For An SME To Sponsor An Employment Visa For A Foreign National Employee In Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says… / 2 responses

Even if your business is relatively small, it is not totally impossible for you to serve as an immigration sponsor for a foreign national staff who you might wish to take up employment for you here in the HKSAR.

In these circumstances, not only must the visa applicant him or herself pass the approvability test of possessing special skills knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available in Hong Kong…

But your business must also demonstrate that you are justified in engaging the services of this applicant and you might also have to show that the skills involved can not readily be found within the local workforce.

Additionally, as this will be the first time your company has sought to sponsor such a foreigner to work for you in Hong Kong, the Immigration Department will expressly drill down on and request you to provide information on such things as:

–          Your financial turnover and profitability.

–          The local employees who work for you, their job titles and what they get paid.

–          Who your clients are and what your business is really all about, and

–          Your office accommodation arrangements

Moreover, if your company is less than 2 years old, the Hong Kong ID will also require specific information and representations to prove to them that your business will be able to, in not yet in fact, make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong Immigration… What Does It Mean… One Year Rule?

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

Over the last 20 years or so I have coined a number of phrases in Hong Kong immigration parlance.

In this short video, I discuss the One Year Rule as it applies to PRC nationals applicants  for resident visa status in Hong Kong.

The one-year rule is where a PRC national who wants to come to Hong Kong to take up residency as a dependent or as an investor or as an employment leader applicant if they have lived outside of China for a minimum of one year immediately prior to submitting their application they will be able to be treated by the Immigration Department as though they were not Chinese they were another nationality and this stems from the fact that we have something called the floodgates policy which for all practical purposes makes it very very difficult and very very demanding for mainlanders to get access to Hong Kong through through our normal immigration policy arrangements but if you’ve spent 12 months continuously outside of China before you make your application for an immigration status in Hong Kong then under the one-year rule you’ll be treated just like any other foreign national and you’re not in a sense be subject to the normal floodgates mechanisms which make it very difficult for such PRC nationals to come and take a residence in Hong Kong.

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A Detailed Business Plan For Your Hong Kong Investment Visa? – Not Really…

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Musing, VG Front Page / 1 response

I always stifle a chuckle when I read on the websites of professional service providers offering a Hong Kong visa and immigration product that there is a need for a ‘detailed business plan’ in each and every Hong Kong investment visa application.

It’s simply not true.

Certainly, every applicant for an investment visa needs to have a ‘planned business’ but it certainly doesn’t follow that, in order to get an approval, the Hong Kong Immigration Department insist on seeing a formal business plan as such.

This is an important point because so many investment visa applicants that come our way have written up at least a basic document which sets out how they see their business playing out over the first couple of years. This is just good planning.

These raw documents cannot properly be said to be formal business plans (as in a 60 page document with extremely detailed all-scenarios-covered projections, risk factors, use of funds, competitor analyses, IP policies and the like).

Most entrepreneurs starting out for the first time wouldn’t know where to begin in crafting a document like that.

However, this documented material does provide the essential elements of the argument underpinning the investment visa application and is an absolute gold mine of information for an immigration consultant who is skilled at articulating an investment proposition in the context of current Hong Kong immigration policy.

When called for by non-specialist immigration practitioners, a formal business plan just puts an added documentation burden on the client and relieves the service provider of the need to properly argue the case.

Don’t let them get away with it!

You pay good money to consultants like me to get your investment visa approved so make us earn our keep. Most definitely have your plans, intentions and money flows written down, but the HKID no more want to read a 60 page business plan in support of your application, than you want to write one.

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More Stuff To Help You Along

How Extensive Should My Business Plan Be In Order To Get A Hong Kong Investment Visa?

Do You Have A Business Plan Template I Can Use In My Hong Kong Investment Visa Application?

How To Ensure You’re Not Breaking The Law By Operating A Business In Hong Kong As A Visitor

Are There Any Advantages To Being An Existing Hong  Kong Resident When You Make An Application For An Investment Visa?

Why Do Hong Kong Investment Visas Get Denied?

Your Hong Kong Employment Visa – What Happens When You Lose Your Job?

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

If you have an employment visa and have stopped working for your sponsoring employer, no matter what the reason, you will not have to leave Hong Kong straight away.

The HKID provide you with enough time to make arrangements to find an alternate employer or, if you prefer, to lay the groundwork to start your own business.

Ninety-nine per cent of the time, the Hong Kong Immigration Department will allow you to carry on living in Hong Kong until your current visa expires but you’re expected to leave at that time.

But if you find another employer or have made ready to start your own business you can apply for new visa permissions to continue living and working in Hong Kong – and get a 12 months extension to your present period of stay in the process.

But in either case you have to make the applications and get the Hong Kong ID’s approval before you start working – otherwise you’ll be breaking the law.

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