The Foibles of Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Applications That Only Experience Can Fully Appreciate

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Special Programmes, VG Front Page, Visitor Visas / 4 responses

The foibles of Hong Kong visa & immigration applications that only experience can fully appreciate – I originally published this post on April 29, 2013 and updated it on April 3, 2023…10 years on – some things never change…

Hong Kong immigration & visa applications: both the Hong Kong Visa Handbook and the accompanying updates posted daily on the Hong Kong Visa Geeza Blog along with the DIY Visa Kits are all designed to help you make an application to the Immigration Department without any professional assistance and with the minimum of stress.

Recent Covid experience threw up all kinds of new challenges with Enhancement Measures and Temporary Measures and it has never been more apparent to me that ‘knowing what you’re doing’ when it comes to Hong Kong visa applications genuinely makes all the difference. At the end of the day, navigating the foibles of Hong Kong visa & immigration applications makes all the difference.

Whilst our content seeks to anticipate the myriad scenarios which can present themselves on your Hong Kong immigration journey, there will always be gaps in your knowledge and understanding of the process as an applicant using the system and it is to these particular foibles of Hong Kong visa & immigration application that I wish to speak today.

As you work your way through your application the dynamics of what’s going on may not make themselves immediately evident to you, for example, why a particular document has been requested or why the Immigration Department has asked for the same material from you twice.

Moreover, there is a fundamental logic which underpins every Hong Kong visa application dictating that the totality of your story and the documents you provide in support be consistent and don’t serve to undermine your argument in any obviously counter-productive way.

Finally, there’s the issue of emotion and the overwhelming significance of getting your application right.

When applying by yourself it is hard to distance yourself from the fear of visa refusal and this can impact negatively on how your argument is articulated and presented to the Immigration Department.

The bottom line is that your visa will be approved subject to policy considerations according to well established procedural guidelines.

So it is important to try to be professionally ‘removed’ from your application seeing it as an argument to be won on the merits of your case in light of the requirements  of the approvability test applicable to your circumstances.

Getting your Hong Kong visa application approved doesn’t have to be a major drama all told. Despite the foibles of Hong Kong Visa & Immigration application, it is mostly a case of common sense, appreciation of the policy in play, and a methodical business-like approach to the exercise.

People get into trouble with their applications mostly due to the fact that it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience only and I hope this video, along with all of our other Hong Kong visa and immigration content, helps you have a stress-free, smooth-sailing  visa approval.

VisaGeeza.Ai – Making Hong Kong Immigration A Lot Easier

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!

More Stuff to Help You Along

The Industry Secret Most Hong Kong Immigration Consultants Donlt Want You To Discover

100% Hong Kong Visa Application Success Rate? Take It All With A Pinch Of Salt!

Do Immigration Consultants Add Any Value To The Hong Kong Visa And Immigration Process?

Social Media Keeping Hong Kong Immigration Consultants On Their Toes – Scary Stuff!

Why Pay For Professional Help In Your Hong Kong QMAS Application When You Really Can Do It All By Yourself

20 – How to Apply For a Hong Kong Investment Visa Without Any Professional Help – Application Plan

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Musing / 13 responses

Updated March 23, 2023

 Get the 100% Free Application Roadmap Here Today – Still Highly Relevant & Useful!

On January 17, 2013 I gave a talk at Centre O in Wanchai on how to go about applying for a Hong Kong business investment visa without the need to pay for any professional help. 10 years have gone by and much water has travelled under the bridge since then. Thankfully, the criteria for approval for this visa type hasn’t changed, although the startup visa is ‘new’ to the scene and worth a look at. This material is still valid although over the coming few weeks I will be doing a series of planned public talks to put a fresh lick of paint on them and posting new videos to this end. Keep your eye open for them!

The 30 minute talk was broken down into 24 very easy to digest segments and each of these segments is presented here.

The talk is designed to allow the D-I-Y visa applicant to use the 100% free resources of both the Hong Kong Visa Handbook as well as the Hong Kong Visa Geeza Blog.

Please see:

10 Must Have Resources for Any Hong Kong Investment Visa Application

and

The Hong Kong Visa Handbook

The videos will be added incrementally over the course of the next 2-3 weeks until the entire talk has been presented.

In the meantime, why not sign up for our D-I-Y Visa Kit here?

The Complete Series

1 – Introduction

2 – Relax & Enjoy The Talk

3 – Order of Business

4 – 10 Must Have Resources

5 – The Policy of It All

6 – Who Doesn’t Have a Visa Problem?

7 – The Pathway for Mainlanders

8 – What Can You Do as a Visitor?

9 – Employee or Investor?

10 – Investment Visa Approvability Test

11 – Three Pillars of Approval

12 – How  Much Cash Investment?

13 – The Catch 22

14 – What About Your Family?

15 – Why Do Cases Get Denied?

16 – Trying Again?

17 – 10 Must Use Resources

18 – 10 Must  Use Resources (Infographic)

19 – 10 Must Use Resources (Visa Factsheet)

20 – 10 Must Use Resources (Application Plan)

21 – 10 Must Use Resources (Case Studies)

22 – 10 Must Use Resources (Templates)

23 – 10 Must Refer Resources (All Good Stuff!)

24 – Your Questions Answered

You’ve Lost Your Job: Can You Get an Interim Hong Kong Employment Visa Extension While You Continue Looking for a New Employer?

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

First Published November 17, 2014 – Advice Still Valid Today

You’ve lost your job and your limit of stay is coming up for expiry. Any chance the Immigration Department will grant you an interim Hong Kong employment visa extension in these circumstances?

QUESTION

I am an Australian  national living in Hong Kong under an employment visa since December 2010, all sponsored by the same company.

This has been an Australian company with a representative office in Hong Kong.

I have over 20 years experience in hi-tech, with experience in mainland China manufacturing.

My current employment visa is due to expire on December 10, 2014.

My employer made a decision to close the Asia office in June 2014.  They did not inform Immigration of this and I was not sure if I should have to do so in their absence to act.

I wish to stay in Hong Kong longer and continue trying to find a job.

If my current visa lapses before a change of sponsorship application can be filed, will this cause problems for me with ImmD in the case of finding a new sponsor?

Is there a way to get an interim Hong Kong employment visa extension for an additional 3-6 months to allow me to stay longer while continuing to search for a job?

Thank you.

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

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

Novel solution to an unusual Hong Kong employment-investment visa situation

What to do if your employer is reluctant to help you secure your Hong Kong employment visa?

Can you continue to work if you find yourself in the Hong Kong visa extension twilight zone?

Can a Hong Kong training visa be used as a stepping stone to a full employment visa in due course?

PODCAST ANSWER

Podcast: Play in new window

As a Visitor Living in Hong Kong Do You Need to Get An Investment Visa if You Freelance Here But All Your Income is Sourced Overseas?

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

First Published October 2, 2019 – Advice Still Valid Today

What is the law about visitors working in Hong Kong as freelancers but not engaging in the local economy? Whilst this question was first asked 4 years ago, I have received three very similar quiestions in the last week so nows the time to republish it. So ..

Do you need an investment visa if all your income is sourced overseas?

QUESTION

Hi Stephen,

I’ve lived in Hong Kong for 2 years and now I’m freelancing and getting all of my income from overseas.

I wish to stay in HK, so am I required to get a work / investment visa even if I generate no income here?

Thank you so much for your help.

More Stuff You May Find Interesting or Useful

How to go about getting an investment visa if you are starting a business in Hong Kong

10 Must Have resources for a Hong Kong investment visa application

Can you undertake freelance work if you hold a Hong Kong Working Holiday visa?

Is there a special visa type for foreign national media professionals seeking to live and freelance in Hong Kong?

Freelance consulting in Hong Kong – can you get a visa?

PODCAST ANSWER

Podcast: Play in new window

Hong Kong Work Visas-Criminal Record Declaration Now Needed

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Feature Article, Investment Visas, Refusals & Appeals, Sherpa, Special Programmes, VG Front Page / No responses

Hong Kong Work Visas-Criminal Record Declaration

Applicable to New CIES Visas Too

Wider Applicability

Starting in February last year, the government announced that various immigration programmes in Hong Kong would be modified, requiring applicants to declare their criminal record status before obtaining an entry visa to come and live in the HKSAR (and not just those arriving for employment). With the recent launch of the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, this requirement has been extended to that programme too.

Updated March 5, 2024

Hong Kong Work Visas-Criminal Record Declaration A Must

A Hong Kong work visas-criminal record declaration is now needed as the Immigration Department confirmed last week that changes would also be made to talent admission schemes, the General Employment Policy and basically every other soul seeking to come and live in Hong Kong for any reason!

In addition to Employment, Training and Entrepreneur visas, specific programmes impacted are:

• Top Talent Pass Scheme.
• Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals.
• Technology Talent Admission Scheme.
• Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates.
• Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents.
• Student Visas
• Working Holiday Visas
• Foreign Domestic Helpers
• Dependant Visas
• New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme

Starting  June 19, 2023 all applicants for these programs will now have to disclose any criminal convictions during their application. This rounded up the arrangements which came into force in February for just some of the visa types.

This change follows the controversy surrounding He Jiakui, a Chinese scientist who was granted a visa under the Top Talent Pass Scheme despite his previous criminal record.

Hong Kong Work Visas-Criminal Record Declaration – Spent Convictions?

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?

Will spent convictions ‘clear the decks’?

I recently appeared on RTHK Radi0 3 Backchat to discuss this. You can listen here.

More Stuff You May Find Interesting or Useful

Hong Kong Visa Handbook – Refusals & Appeals

Appeal Options Available

Will-He-or-Won’t-He? Mike Tyson, His Criminal Record & His Hong Kong Visa…

Mike Tyson: Welcome in Hong Kong, New Zealand Say No, Australia Still Deciding

The 7 Things Your Employer Needs to Know About The Immigration Process When Applying For An Employment Visa For Hong Kong

 

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!

Listen To The Show

Podcast: Play in new window

Ai Is Coming To The Hong Kong Visa Geeza Website Very Soon

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Ai, Feature Article, Musing, VG Front Page / No responses

It probably won’t come as a surprise to you but we’re actively and quickly moving ahead with the introduction of Ai to our immigration practice, the Hong Kong Visa Centre.

Ai Is Coming To The Hong Kong Visa Geeza Website Very Soon

Last year I established a group on LinkedIn called – Innovation In Immigration.

I posted this video along with a few others of the same ilk encouraging my colleagues globally to think on their feet with the coming onslaught of Ai in the professional practice of immigration.

It has never ceased to amaze me how, having applied and proven the Intelligent Content Marketing business model, in the immigration profession over a decade at least – and shared the knowledge and know-how 100% for free throughout all of this time – just how the overwhelming majority of colleagues have simply ignored it.

The business model I cut my teeth on 30 years ago is still used by 99.99% of all immigration practitioners globally today.

Namely, the Industrial Economy professional services business model with smart phones thrown in.

Unreal.

So, when you break down the psychographical elements of an immigration practitioner in respect of innovation in my profession, it’s a case of:

·       What do they believe?
·       What do they do?
·       What do they want?

Believe?

It’s hard to find new clients at scale. There has to be a better way to monetize their expertise. No?

Do?

They rely on word-of-mouth marketing and advertising in all its forms and flounder amongst all the technology noise going on around them (especially those with gray hair). They feel that tech is just running away with them.

Want?

A proven process that works and with it, scale and growth. A proven, risk-free, ideally very low-cost follow-the-arrows formula to adopt and apply.

But unless it comes in the form of a silver bullet, it’s just business as usual.

But now comes along Ai and the game has changed.

Immigration practitioners traditionally have 3 heads of value:

1 – Expert knowledge & know-how
2 – The ability to apply (1) in real life
3 – Accountability for (2)

The Ai machine will usurp (1) leaving only (2) and (3) for monetization. The Industrial Economy business model based on scarcity is dead. The modern immigration practice must focus on (2) and (3) and win the online battle to be found for (1).

Interesting times ahead – watch this space!

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

On Content Marketing

The Last 30 Years

At Home

Lifting the Lid

What Does it Mean?

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 / 8 responses

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. 

More Stuff You May Find Interesting or Useful

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

I’ve lost my job – what about my employment visa – will I get kicked out of Hong Kong?

My employment visa expires before my change of employer application will be finalized – Help!

What happens if you inadvertently breach your conditions of stay by taking up an unauthorized employment in Hong Kong without first applying for a change of sponsorship?

What about your Hong Kong employment Visa if you’re thinking of changing jobs?

PODCAST ANSWER

Podcast: Play in new window