Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Topics

QOTW: Swapping to a Hong Kong Employment Visa from a Working Holiday Visa – Possible?

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

The Working Holiday Visa is an excellent addition to the options young people of certain nationalities have to come to Hong Kong to work; but can you stay here longer than the original 12 months ImmD give you? QUESTION  OF  THE  WEEK Hi, I am on a UK Working Holiday Visa. The question is this: Can […]

QOTW: Can I Easily Swap Back to a Hong Kong Investment Visa from an Employment Visa Once Again?

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

Entrepreneur to employee and then back to being an entrepreneur again – what will the Hong Kong Immigration Department make of this scenario…? QUESTION  OF  THE  WEEK Hello, I was on an investment visa for a year when I started my own business and then took on a full time role with another company.  I was […]

QOTW: How Easy (or Hard) Is It to Swap From a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa to a Full Employment Visa?

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

The working holiday visa and the Hong Kong employment visa are 2 completely different animals… QUESTION  OF  THE  WEEK I’m an Australian citizen in Hong Kong, working under a working holiday visa which only permits me to work 3 months per employer. Is the only way around this to be sponsored by my employer or […]

How Easy / Practical Is It to Swap Between a Prolonged Visitor Visa & Student Visa (or Employment Visa) in Hong Kong?

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

Same sex partners, married or otherwise, are just not treated equally when it comes to immigration in Hong Kong I’m afraid… QUESTION Dear Stephen, I will be transferred by my company from Holland to Hong Kong beginning of  August. My partner (we are getting married end of May, according to Holland civil union law for […]

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The Hong Kong Immigration Department Really Are Getting Tougher Across the Board Now…

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Musing, Refusals & Appeals, Special Programmes, Visitor Visas / 3 responses

It has taken me 21 years to make this claim…  I have been practicing in Hong Kong immigration advisory matters since 1993. All down those years, I have been asked countless times “is Immigration getting harder?’ and unflinchingly I have answered ‘no’. It has always been my experience that if you have an approvable case […]

Do You Need to Spend a Minimum Number of Days Per Year in Hong Kong In Order to Maintain a Capital Investment Entrant Scheme Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / No responses

Does the rationale of the CIES dictate that you spend a certain amount of time in the HKSAR each year in order not to lose the status? QUESTION After grant of  a Capital Investment Entrant Scheme visa, say if you live overseas, how many days/weeks or months/year, will you have to prove you have stayed […]

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Interview: What’s Actually Involved in Getting a Hong Kong Investment Visa Approved?

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

On June 6th, 2013 I was interviewed by five law students from the Chinese University of Hong Kong about my experiences practicing immigration here over the last 20 years. We covered a great deal of ground in the 90 minutes we spent together and over the next few weeks I will be posting the interview […]

I Have Technically Overstayed My Hong Kong Employment Visa by One Day But Have No Job – What Happens Now?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Musing, Visitor Visas / 1 response

Interesting and not at all unusual situation this one … how to deal with a technical overstay conundrum… QUESTION I have been living and working in Hong Kong for the past three years on a valid employment visa which has expired yesterday (2/11/2013). I finished my employment earlier in the month (I am not continuing […]

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Which is Better – Change of Hong Kong Employment Visa Sponsorship or Seeking to Swap Over to a QMAS Visa Instead?

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

If I had to choose between applying for a QMAS visa or otherwise seek to change my Hong Kong Employment Visa Sponsorship to carry on working in Hong Kong, I know what I’d do (hands down, no doubt about it) … QUESTION Hi, I have been in Hong Kong for the past 2 years under […]

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Are Such Facilities as Virtual Offices, Incubators, Serviced Offices & Co-working Spaces Deemed ‘Suitable Business Premises’ for the Purposes of a Hong Kong Business Investment Visa Application?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Hadley Says…, Investment Visas / 4 responses

Hong Kong has an incredibly dynamic economy with the reality that the Hong Kong Immigration Department has recognized that entrepreneurs today have a wide variety of options in which to home their start up and early stage businesses. Consequently, incubators, serviced offices and co-working spaces are generally acceptable to the Immigration Department as early homes […]