Catch 22

Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Topics

Musing

How To Apply For A Hong Kong Investment Visa Without Paying For Professional Help – 10 – The Catch 22

April 7th, 2025

Posted by / in Investment Visas, Musing / No responses

I have given this talk around town for the last couple of years now and so pleased to finally add it to our coverage of the Hong Kong investment visa. This segment speaks to the proverbial issue of having started your Hong Kong business before you have received the permission of the Hong Kong Immigration Department […]

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Musing

Hong Kong Business Investment Visas – The Catch 22 For Foreign National Entrepreneurs

August 28th, 2024

Posted by / in Investment Visas, Musing / 3 responses

    PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: This installment breaks down the systemic procedural conflict where a visitor is legally prohibited from working or managing a company, yet ImmD demands evidence that an enterprise is viable before granting an entrepreneur visa. The historical strategy of […]

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Your Questions Answered

I Possess an APEC Business Travel Card – Will It Advantage Me in My Hong Kong Investment Visa Application?

December 2nd, 2022

Posted by / in Investment Visas, Your Question Answered / 5 responses

PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: Historically, this explainer clarified whether holding an APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) conferred any special advantage or streamlined treatment when applying for a Hong Kong investment as entrepreneur visa. The Geeza pointed out that while an ABTC demonstrates legitimate regional […]

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Your Questions Answered

I Possess an APEC Business Travel Card – Will It Advantage Me in My Hong Kong Investment Visa Application?

April 15th, 2021

Posted by / in Investment Visas, Your Question Answered / No responses

This question really is all about the Catch 22 which I have posted on quite a few times previously. However, there is an interesting twist in that the questioner has entered Hong Kong on an APEC Business Travel Card and none of his clients are actually based in Hong Kong. So I am grateful for […]

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Musing

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

June 10th, 2020

Posted by / 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. PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: This editorial detailing how ImmD evaluates business creation by […]

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Your Questions Answered

Do You Need a Visa to Operate a Business in Hong Kong if You Are Not Yet Resident Here?

December 13th, 2017

Posted by / in Employment Visas, Investment Visas, Your Question Answered / 5 responses

Great question today with a simple answer and an opportunity to shed some more light on the Catch 22 and  your ‘intention to reside’… PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: Historically, this guidance addressed the fundamental legal distinction between owning a Hong Kong enterprise and actively operating […]

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Musing

Is the Hong Kong Startup Visa All That It’s Cracked Up to Be? – The Catch 22

November 8th, 2015

Posted by / in Investment Visas, Musing / 7 responses

On August 11, 2015 I gave a presentation discussing the so-called Hong Kong Startup visa that everyone is getting so excited about. PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: This piece’s deconstruction of the systemic dilemma facing early-stage founders—where one cannot lawfully operate without a visa, yet […]

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Musing

Investment Visas, the Catch 22, Multi-Level Marketing & What the Hong Kong Immigration Department Do Instead of Saying NO!

May 28th, 2014

Posted by / in Investment Visas, Musing / No responses

PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: Historically, this advisory installment unmasked one of the Immigration Department’s most classic administrative tactics: the procedural “Catch-22” and attrition strategy deployed when dealing with applications it disfavored—specifically multi-level marketing (MLM), direct sales, or fringe trading models—without issuing an immediate statutory […]

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60 Second Snapshot'

How to Ensure You Are Not Breaking the Law by Operating a Business in Hong Kong as a Visitor

May 1st, 2012

Posted by / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas, Investment Visas / 4 responses

Operating a Business in Hong Kong as a Visitor? PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: Historical Context: Navigating Preparatory Acts Versus Operating as a Visitor Historically, as published by the Hong Kong Visa Geeza in How to Ensure You Are Not Breaking the Law by Operating […]

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Hadley Says

Hong Kong Investment Visas & Joseph Heller – What’s the Connection?

May 1st, 2012

Posted by / in Hadley Says…, Investment Visas / 3 responses

PRACTICE UPDATE: How to read in light of current ImmD policy: Historical Editorial Standard: In this classic editorial, the Geeza invokes Joseph Heller’s satirical novel Catch-22 to illustrate the quintessential immigration paradox facing foreign founders: by law, you cannot lawfully work or run a business in Hong Kong without an investment visa, yet the Immigration […]

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