Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

Our Dependant Visas Will Expire Soon – We Can’t Get Back To Hong Kong In Time Due To COVID19 – Help!

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Family Visas, VG Front Page, Your Question Answered / 14 responses

I get 30-40 questions each week and not all of them merit a podcast answer. Some are answered quickly via email and for the next few days I’ll post some of these anonymised replies here.

Our Dependant Visas Will Expire Soon – We Can’t Get Back To Hong Kong In Time Due To COVID19 – Help!

QUESTION

Hi, me and my 2 daughters age 12 & 22 are stranded in India for the past 4 months and our dependent visas are expiring on 16th July.

There are no flights to come back to Hong Kong until 31st July. We are trying for evacuation flight, which might happen after 16th July.

My husband is in Hong Kong and has already applied for how own visa extension.

How do we get back to Hong Kong in this kind of situation? All of us have Hong Kong ID cards.

Please advise – what are the options available?

ANSWER

Since no flights are available before the visa expiry date and visitors are banned from entering Hong Kong at the moment, we suggest you flying back to Hong Kong when there are no more travel restrictions.

After coming back to Hong Kong, you and your daughters can apply for a reinstatement of your dependant visas with the necessary documents plus a letter explaining that you were outside Hong Kong and had no available flights to come back before the expiry date and extend your visas on time.

It is also advisable to write a letter about your current situation to the Immigration Department in advance, especially for your 22-year-old daughter (who can as an adult extend/reinstate her dependant visa but not have a new dependant visa issued to her), so that the Immigration Department cannot reject your reinstatement applications due to your lack of manifest intention to return before the expiry date.

The approval is subject to the Immigration Department’s decision; however, a visa can usually be reinstated successfully with a valid reason.

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

Why do Hong Kong visas get denied?

The merits of applying for a Reconsideration of a refused Hong Kong visa application

How to go about applying for the Reconsideration of a refused Hong Kong visa application?

I Know the Immigration Department website is a black hole for denied Hong Kong visa applicants so what can I do now?

How to engage the Hong Kong Visa Centre if your application has been refused by the Immigration Department

Can I Extend My Hong Kong Visitor Visa If I Am Stuck Here Due to COVID19?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in VG Front Page, Visitor Visas, Your Question Answered / 2 responses

I get 30-40 questions each week and not all of them merit a podcast answer. Some are answered quickly via email and for the next few days I’ll post some of these anonymised replies here.

Can I Extend My Hong Kong Visitor Visa If I Am Stuck Here Due to COVID19?

QUESTION

Hi

I’m here on a visitor visa, which I’ve already extended for a further 2 months. If I leave Hong Kong to do a visa run, I won’t be able to return because non-residents are barred.

What are the chances of a second extension?

Will I be able to stay if I get a job and apply for a work visa, or will I still need to leave?

ANSWER

The chance of getting a second extension now is still favourable due to the current COVID19 situation.

You may include an explanation letter in your application for extension stating your health concerns and travel restrictions etc.

We do not recommend you to include the reason of looking for a new job in Hong Kong as it does not look convincing to the Immigration Department that you are looking for a job while being a visitor here.

You may assure in the letter that, as a visitor visa holder, you are not engaging in any activity that would represent a breach of your conditions of stay, including taking up employment (paid or unpaid), enrolling in any formal course of study or any other activity not commensurate with visitor permissions.

If you apply for an employment visa, you may or may not need to leave and re-enter Hong Kong. Originally, applicants needed to exit and re-enter Hong Kong to activate their employment visas. However, the Immigration Department is now offering a special arrangement for onshore visa activation although this arrangement does not officially exist.

To activate the visa without exiting Hong Kong, applicants can fax, email or submit in person an explanation letter to the approving officer stating the difficulty to exit and re-enter Hong Kong, with case reference number and contact details.

After that, if so minded to make a positive act of discretion, the officer will contact and make an appointment with the applicant. It normally takes four weeks to process visa/entry permit applications for employment upon receipt of all the required documents, so there can be changes.

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

Paying for Visa Help? The Who’s-Who of the Hong Kong Immigration Services Industry

100% Hong Kong Visa Application Success Rate? Take It All With a Pinch of Salt

The Visa Geeza on RTHK Radio Three

Sign Up for the 100% Free Hong Kong Visa Extension Kit

Sign Up for the 100% Free Hong Kong Visa D-I-Y Kit

Hong Kong Immigration… What Does It Mean… Approvability Test?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Musing, Special Programmes / No responses

First Published August 24, 2015

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

In this short piece, I discuss  how the Hong Kong Immigration Department position their internal test for visa application approval via, what I have couched, as their Approvability Test.

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

What does it mean… Twilight Zone?

What does it mean…Swapping Status?

What does it mean… Administrative Flux?

What does it mean… Slippers & Pipe Visa?

What does it mean… Shenzhen Shuttle?

What does it mean… Visa Gossip & Rumours?

What does it mean… Suitable & Credible Sponsor?

What does it mean… One Year Rule?

What does it mean… Catch 22?

What does it mean… Roof-Over-Head; Food-on-Table?

10 Must Have Resources for a Successful Hong Kong Employment Visa Application

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Musing, Resource, VG Front Page / 32 responses

I have been asked twice recently about adding the Hong Kong employment visa to the “10 Must Have …” collection of resources on the Visa Geeza Blog so here you have it.

In addition to the resources detailed below, you can also find how to extend your Hong Kong employment visa here and in case your proposed employer doesn’t have one, this link will take you to the standard employment contract that we tend to use with our clients if  the need so arises.

INFOGRAPHIC – Newcomers Guide to Getting an Employment Visa for Hong Kong

FACTSHEET – Visa Information On the Hong Kong Employment Visa

PLAN – The Hong Kong Visa Application Roadmap

VIDEO – Your Employer Must Help You Get Your Hong Kong Employment Visa

TEMPLATES – How to Structure Your Hong Kong Employment Visa Application Argument

CASE STUDY – Hong Kong Employment Visa – Teenage High School Graduate Gets Approved!

VIDEO – Does Your Employer Control Your Hong Kong Immigration Destiny?

VIDEO – What’s the Minimum Salary Requirement for a Hong Kong Employment Visa?

VIDEO – If I Didn’t Graduate From a University Will It Preclude Me From Getting an Employment Visa in HK?

PODCAST – Can I Come to Hong Kong as a Visitor, Find a Job, then Change to an Employment Visa?

CASE STUDY – Hong Kong Employment Visa Application – When All Else Failed We Appealed to the Chief Executive – and Won!

VIDEO – I Hate My Boss and Want to Leave My Job – What Happens to My Hong Kong Employment Visa?

PS – in case you’re counting there are actually 15 resources in this Post but ’10’ has a nice ring to it so I lied! I trust you’ll forgive my indiscretion!

100% SME LOAN GUARANTEE SCHEME – REVIEW – HSBC

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Musing / No responses

After much vaunted fanfare the 100% SME Loan Guarantee Scheme put forward by the HKSAR Government came into effect in April this year and on April 24, 2020 we applied under the Proxy Method to our sole bankers HSBC.

This short video sets out our experience.

Our Contact is Isaac Wong

More Stuff You Will Surely Find Useful

10 Must Have Resources for a Trouble-Free Hong Kong Employment Visa Application

10 Must Have Resources for a Successful Hong Kong Permanent Residency Application

10 Must Have Resources for any Hong Kong Investment Visa Application

The Hong Kong Visa D-I-Y Kit – Get Yours Today!

Hong Kong Immigration… What Does It Mean… Catch 22?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Musing / 3 responses

First Published August 29, 2016

The Hong Kong immigration Catch 22 – over the last 20 years or so I have coined a number of phrases in Hong Kong immigration parlance.

In this short piece I discuss  how the Hong Kong Immigration Department manage the seemingly contradictory requirement of creating new business facts on the ground whilst still not yet in possession of their permission to establish or join in a business in Hong Kong

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

Hong Kong immigration… what does it mean… Twilight Zone?

Hong Kong immigration… what does it mean…Swapping Status?

Hong Kong immigration… what does it mean… Administrative Flux?

Hong Kong immigration… what does it mean… Slippers & Pipe Visa?

Hong Kong immigration… what does it mean… Shenzhen Shuttle?

Hong Kong immigration… what does it mean… Visa Gossip & Rumours?

Hong Kong immigration… what does it mean… Suitable & Credible Sponsor?

Hong Kong immigration… what does it mean… One Year Rule?

Hong Kong Immigration… What Does It Mean… Administrative Flux?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Musing, Refusals & Appeals, Special Programmes, Visitor Visas / 1 response

First Published September 6, 2016

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 notion of Administrative Flux.

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

10 Must Have resources for any Hong Kong investment visa application

Is it actually getting harder to get a Hong Kong investment visa application approved?

I have a socially advantageous yet modestly capitalised business plan – can I get an investment visa for Hong Kong?

Why internet forums are a cr@p source of Hong Kong visa and immigration advice

But Stephen, how do you make any money if you give away all of your Hong Kong visa expertise away for free?