Browse Our Most Recent Content (& Beyond)

This post deals with the available visa options after being convicted and removed from Hong Kong Life in Hong Kong can throw up many challenges, none too much greater than the following: QUESTION Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to ask my question! I have questions, but I will frame my situation first. In […] Keep Reading...>

February 18th, 2025

This post explains how strategic advance planning can rescue a troubled Right of Abode application and preserve years of continuous ordinary residence in Hong Kong First Published On December 9, 2013, still of interest today It happens a lot more often that you might imagine – inadvertent loss of ‘ordinary residence‘ setting back your application for […] Keep Reading...>

February 17th, 2025

It happens occasionally that cancelling a Hong Kong visa application might become a necessary course of action. This post helps you undrstand the process and implications of cancelling a Hong Kong visa application. For various reasons, an application for a Hong Kong visa, whether it be for tourism, business, employment, or any other type, may have to […] Keep Reading...>

February 10th, 2025

Does a simple trip to ‘city hall’ solve all your Hong Kong dependant visa problems? QUESTION  OF  THE  WEEK I am American. I have just accepted a role in Hong Kong. My employer is about to begin my visa paperwork to sponsor me for an employment visa. However, my girlfriend is Australian and I want […] Keep Reading...>

February 5th, 2025

Many foreign nationals holding Hong Kong employment visas labour under the misapprehension that their employer somehow controls their immigration destiny by virtue of the fact that they sponsor their residence in Hong Kong. Nothing could be further from the truth! This is a common misconception amongst foreign workers, especially if they find themselves in some […] Keep Reading...>

January 23rd, 2025

So what options are available to Hong Kong dependant visa holding foreign nationals when their spouses are leaving Hong Kong and they want to stay? QUESTION  OF  THE  WEEK I am here on a Hong Kong dependent visa with my husband. He is planning to leave his employment in Hong Kong and return to his home […] Keep Reading...>

January 22nd, 2025

The Hong Kong entrepreneur visa (business investment) is arguably the most challenging immigration status to acquire in the HKSAR… On March 21, 2014 I gave a presentation at the Chinese Club entitled Business Immigration to Hong Kong – A Practical Guide. Although more than a decade has passed, the information remains relevant today because the underlying rationale […] Keep Reading...>

January 20th, 2025

This post helps you understanding your employment rights and options during visa extension status in Hong Kong You may, on occasion,  find yourself in that strange situation where your current employment visa has expired, you are still employed by your employer of record but your employment visa extension application has not yet been finalized. So, […] Keep Reading...>

January 15th, 2025

In actual fact, your employment visa permissions belong to you, not your employer as they are just the sponsor of your immigration status, not the final arbiter of whether you can remain in Hong Kong or not. Only the Hong Kong Immigration Department hold this power. If you find your position with your employer untenable […] Keep Reading...>

January 14th, 2025

It happens all the time. You get an employment visa to work in Hong Kong for one employer – then your circumstances change and you want to take up a position with another. The question is – what about your visa? Is it OK just to swap jobs without doing anything down at Immigration Tower? As […] Keep Reading...>

January 13th, 2025

Unemployed Holders of Employment Visas Are No Longer Eligible to Change to Top Talent Pass Visa Focus Appears To Be On Attracting New Talent & Not Enabling ‘Out of Luck’ Existing Talent  – Click To Download The Guidebook –  In late 2024, the Hong Kong Immigration Department implemented significant yet understated modifications to its Top […] Keep Reading...>

January 9th, 2025

So, your Hong Kong visa application has been refused, no matter the type – and the letter you received from the Immigration Department says nothing about opportunities to appeal. So you go to the Hong Kong ID website. But shock, horror, even that is silent – so what can you do now? Certain types of […] Keep Reading...>

January 7th, 2025

This post deals with navigating Hong Kong immigration, highlighting how marriage simplifies the process and exploring options for unmarried partners Under Hong Kong immigration policy, if you’re married, life is pretty much plain sailing from a visa perspective. Married spouses accompanying their partners to the HKSAR when they come to work secure dependent visas which […] Keep Reading...>

January 6th, 2025

Sierra Leone Permanent Residency And Citizenship GO-FOR-GOLD A New Way to Quickly & Very Cost-Effectively Secure Sierra Leone Permanent Residency And Citizenship INTERVIEW How to Design a Residency by Investment Program from Scratch: The Case of Sierra Leone Jason Black (JB) the press representative of Hong Kong Visa Centre, interviews Stephen Barnes, a leading figure […] Keep Reading...>

January 1st, 2025

Intro to the Hong Kong Startup Scene from Casey Lau After waaaay too much time had passed I finally made it to my first StartupsHK event held at the Hive last week. Casey Lau, serial entrepreneur and 15 year veteran of the  Hong Kong start up scene, put on a great show last Thursday, which I am […] Keep Reading...>

December 30th, 2024

Exploring the Reasons Behind Prolonged Visitor Visa Denials for Non-Traditional Couples by the Hong Kong Immigration Department I’ve written lots and lots previously about same sex partner visa applications for Hong Kong. To recap, same sex partners who are in a loving committed life partner relationship and who have cohabited previously prior to their relocation […] Keep Reading...>

December 24th, 2024

The approvability tests for both employment visas and investment visas, whilst fundamentally different, call for an examination of the applicant’s special skills, knowledge and experience which can be said to be of value to Hong Kong. In the case of an employment visa, the focus is squarely on the personal profile of the applicant, while in […] Keep Reading...>

December 23rd, 2024

This post deals with the reasons why the Immigration Department favors limited liability companies in the process of Hong Kong investment visa applications. Conceptually, it is possible to promote an application for a Hong Kong investment visa if you have entered into either a partnership at will or a sole proprietorship business in the HKSAR. […] Keep Reading...>

December 20th, 2024

Hong Kong immigration law is very clear about the need for foreign nationals to secure permission to work in Hong Kong via applying for an employment visa. If you intend to come here to take up employment, paid or unpaid, for long or short duration, for a local or an overseas employer, you need to […] Keep Reading...>

December 19th, 2024

Choosing the Right Visa Category: What You Need to Know Before Applying for Visa in Hong Kong It is important to understand that Hong Kong is quite different, from an immigration perspective, than most other jurisdictions as residence visas are only available to foreign nationals to accommodate their specific reason for wishing to live in […] Keep Reading...>

December 18th, 2024

The HKSAR passport is an excellent travel document affording visa free privileges to travel to and visit some 150 countries worldwide. If you are a foreign national permanent resident of Hong Kong you can consider, if you so desire, applying for a HKSAR passport, usually if your present country of origin does not offer you […] Keep Reading...>

December 17th, 2024

Important Steps to Take When Your Hong Kong Employment Visa Details Change Sometimes, though not very often, the corporate entity sponsoring an employment visa for a foreign national employee working in Hong Kong, may undergo a reorganisation or a repositioning in relation to its operations here and, consequently, it can be no longer said that […] Keep Reading...>

December 16th, 2024

This post will provide an overview of the various visa options available, helping you navigate the complexities of visa regulations and ensuring a smooth transition into your next chapter in Hong Kong. QUESTION “I have been working in HK since 2007 on a working visa, which expired in August 2012. Is there any legal status […] Keep Reading...>

December 13th, 2024

In this post, we will explore the advantages of pursuing a reconsideration application, highlighting how a well-prepared case can address the concerns raised by immigration authorities and enhance the likelihood of a favorable outcome. The saying goes that a lawyer who represents himself in court has a fool for a client. The same could be […] Keep Reading...>

December 12th, 2024

The Hong Kong Immigration Department expect that, as part of any application for an investment visa, the entrepreneur will naturally establish a home for his or her business out of which the enterprise will operate. Whilst it often makes financial sense for a brand new start up enterprise to initially work from the spare bedroom […] Keep Reading...>

December 11th, 2024

The Hong Kong Immigration Department website is good for a few things but not very good at all where it counts – namely, indicting to you your chances of success in getting your Hong Kong residence visa application approved. You see, immigration policy in Hong Kong is governed by highly confidential guidelines which the general […] Keep Reading...>

December 10th, 2024

It’s a common enough problem, where unmarried couples are coming to Hong Kong, one to work, one trailing in the other’s wake. I have covered variations on this scenario previously, but this question is excellent as it gets to the heart of how to manage the inevitable visitor status of the non employed partner through […] Keep Reading...>

December 9th, 2024

Securing an approval for an investment visa is one of the hardest challenges there is in the realm of Hong Kong immigration practice. Your mission is to pass the approvability test and demonstrate definitively to the Hong Kong Immigration Department that you can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong as a […] Keep Reading...>

December 6th, 2024

The Travel Pass is designed for frequent visitors to Hong Kong who have a current, pre-existing employment outside of the HKSAR that is going to continue in the future. Moreover, the Travel Pass requires that your frequent visits here will be of benefit to Hong Kong. You also need the support of a local contact […] Keep Reading...>

December 5th, 2024

The question is often asked if it is absolutely necessary to undertake a local advertising campaign in respect of a job to be offered to a foreign national who needs an employment visa to take up a job in Hong Kong. The answer is, it all depends. In the case of intercompany transferees, certainly not. […] Keep Reading...>

December 4th, 2024

Where your proposed employer is a brand new company you can expect the Hong Kong Immigration Department to look very closely at the enterprise to make sure that it is in fact a suitable sponsor for your working visa permissions. In many ways, the due diligence which the Hong Kong ID undertake is very much […] Keep Reading...>

December 3rd, 2024

Shenzhen Residents Now Eligible for Unlimited 7-Day Visits to Hong Kong The Visa Geeza Discusses On RTHK Radio 3 Today   Shenzhen Residents Get Unlimited 7-Day Visits to Hong Kong Starting December 2024 From 1 December 2024, Shenzhen residents will enjoy greater travel flexibility to Hong Kong with the reinstatement of the multiple-entry Individual Visit […] Keep Reading...>

December 2nd, 2024

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 […] Keep Reading...>

November 30th, 2024

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 […] Keep Reading...>

November 29th, 2024

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 […] Keep Reading...>

November 28th, 2024

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 […] Keep Reading...>

November 27th, 2024

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 […] Keep Reading...>

November 26th, 2024

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 […] Keep Reading...>

November 25th, 2024

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 […] Keep Reading...>

November 21st, 2024

Understanding the Minimum Salary Requirements for a Hong Kong Employment Visa This is a vexed question for many visa applicants and their employers but there is a simple rule of thumb that needs to be adhered to. The Hong Kong Immigration Department expect that a foreigner seeking employment visa permissions to work in Hong Kong […] Keep Reading...>

November 20th, 2024

First Published September 9, 2016, still valid today 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  the old chestnut of contrived employment (fake job offers). Contrived employment is where somebody doesn’t have a genuine job offer. Instead, they […] Keep Reading...>

November 19th, 2024

Losing your job in Hong Kong can affect your employment visa status in the HKSAR. This brief video outlines the legal implications if you find yourself in this situation. The Hong Kong Immigration Department are highly sympathetic to foreign nationals who find themselves with an employment visa sponsored by an employer that has had to […] Keep Reading...>

November 18th, 2024

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 Hong Kong visa Twilight Zone. The twilight zone is where you’re an existing resident, your current conditions of stay prevail, but because you’ve made an application to the Immigration Department to […] Keep Reading...>

November 15th, 2024

One of the really great things about the subject of Hong Kong visa and immigration is that there is never any shortage of things to blog about and share. Every day in our professional practice, we undertake cases which provide ongoing, often entirely new, insights into how the Hong Kong Immigration Department are implementing policy […] Keep Reading...>

November 14th, 2024

If you’re claiming skills, knowledge or experience on your CV as part of your argument for a Hong Kong Employment Visa Application – what’s the gig if you can’t fully  support your claims with references or testimonials? QUESTION Hi, I am 8 weeks into applying for an employment visa (I’m British). I have given the documents […] Keep Reading...>

November 13th, 2024

This article deals with the question of whether time spent in prison in Hong Kong will break the continuity of ordinary residence for the purposes of a Right of Abode application after 7 years. First Published on April 10, 2016 QUESTION I am interested to know if there is anything I could do to strengthen […] Keep Reading...>

November 12th, 2024

Can a Chinese spouse resident on the Mainland secure a dependant visa for Hong Kong? QUESTION My brother is married to a Chinese girl. He is Singaporean and coming to Hong Kong on a working visa. Can he get his wife a dependant visa for Hong Kong? They have proper legal marriage certificate from Singapore. […] Keep Reading...>

November 11th, 2024

Given that some countries, like Australia, organise their immigration policy to address skills gaps in their economies with specific temporary visa types, you might expect that Hong Kong would have a thriving job finding + visa service industry. We do, after all, issue more than 17,000 new employment visa approvals each year under the General […] Keep Reading...>

October 30th, 2024

It is NEVER a good idea to overstay your Hong Kong visa for the reasons set out below… QUESTION I previously overstayed my Visitor visa for a period of 13 months;  I reported to the Immigration Department, was charged and at Sha Tin court I was convicted and given a suspended sentence of 6 months. […] Keep Reading...>

October 24th, 2024

There is often confusion between employment in Hong Kong as a Professional or an Imported Worker – this post seeks to clear this up… QUESTION First of all I want to say that your website is amazing, easy to understand with relevant information. My question might be very simple but I cannot find the answer […] Keep Reading...>

October 22nd, 2024

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