Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Topics

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…? PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: Historically, this Question of the Week addressed a professional who had previously held an Investment as Entrepreneur […]

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

PRACTICE UPDATE 2026 How the Content Must Now Be Read in Light of the New CIES Policy Our original article addressed a frequent concern for internationally mobile investors: whether maintaining a CIES visa requires spending a mandatory minimum number of days per year in Hong Kong. The short answer remains legally unchanged—there is no statutory […]

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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

PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: Historically, this interview feature laid bare the practical, real-world mechanics of getting an Investment as Entrepreneur visa approved under the General Employment Policy (GEP). The Geeza walked an interviewer through the anatomy of an application, demystifying the official statutory standard […]

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

How the Content Must Now Be Read in Light of the Updated QMAS (Quality Migrant Admission Scheme) Policy In the foundational advisory article Hong Kong Employment Visa Sponsorship – What You Need to Know, the analysis focuses on the standard, employer-tied mechanics of the General Employment Policy (GEP) and Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and […]

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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

PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: The legacy position explored here—that serviced business suites, executive desks, or shared co-working memberships can serve as acceptable business premises for initial entry clearance—is now outright obsolete. Adjudicating officers have systematically eliminated accommodation for flexible, unsegregated office arrangements; ImmD now […]

How Can Presently Unemployed Investment Bankers Reorganize Their Careers in Order to Remain in Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Investment Visas, Special Programmes, VG Front Page / 5 responses

These are trying times for investment bankers with the global financial crisis continuing to lead to career uncertainties for these professionals with seemingly no end sight. PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: This advisory piece—which historically suggested that redundant finance executives could bridge career transitions by […]