Can I Study then Get Married All Whilst Holding a Hong Kong Employment Visa Sponsored by a Company I No Longer Work For?
Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / 4 responses
This post was first published on December 2, 2012
Life in Hong Kong throws up many new opportunities and this question seeks to understand the implications for 7 years continuous residency in respect of an eventual right of abode application where an overall switch over in life plans sees a lady intending to relinquish her employment visa for a student or dependant visa …
QUESTION
I am a Canadian citizen living in HK. I have an employment visa and want to leave my job. My fiancee (Canadian citizen) has an employment visa and we will be married in 10 months.
1. Can I leave my job (my employment visa has been extended until 2014), stay in HK on my employment visa until the wedding, and then transfer my visa to a Dependent visa linked to my husband?
2. Will this 10 month gap of non-employment, (even though I have 2 valid years left on the employment visa) count as a break in the 7 year continuous living requirement for permanent residency? I will remain in HK.
3. Will a dependent visa still count towards permanent residency?
4. Does permanent residency need to come from only one type of visa, or can it come from multiple visas?
5. Is there any benefit to having an employment visa over a dependent visa for permanent residency or privileges as a HK resident?
6. Can I attend a HK based university under the employment visa or must I change the visa to a student visa?
7. Will the time between the date of resignation and the beginning of my student visa (if I choose to do this, possibly 4-6 months) break the continuous living requirement for permanent residency?
More Stuff to Help You Along
Will a break in continuous employment mean a break in continuous residence for the purposes of a Hong Kong right of abode application?
Hong Kong right of abode application – when does the 7 year clock start ticking?
Strategy on how to craft and argument to appeal a refused Hong Kong right of abode application
Will any time spent as a visitor in Hong Kong count towards the magic seven years for a right of abode application?
10 must have resources for a successful Hong Kong permanent residency application
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The Hong Kong Visa Geeza (a.k.a Stephen Barnes) is a co-founder of the Hong Kong Visa Centre and author of the Hong Kong Visa Handbook. A law graduate of the London School of Economics, Stephen has been practicing Hong Kong immigration since 1993 and is widely acknowledged as the leading authority on business immigration matters here for the last 24 years.
