Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Topics

QOTW: Do You Need to Have a Job in Hong Kong to Be Able to Sponsor a Dependant Visa for Your New Spouse?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Musing / No responses

If you hold an employment visa and are between jobs what impact would this have on being able to sponsor a dependant visa for your spouse? QUESTION  OF  THE  WEEK Hi Stephen, I am in between jobs (currently on an employment visa in HK) and plan to get married soon. Can you tell me if being […]

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 […]

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 […]

Podcast: Play in new window

What About Your Hong Kong Employment Visa If You’re Thinking of Changing Jobs?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says… / 1 response

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? […]

What to Do if You Find Yourself in the Hong Kong Visa ‘Twilight Zone’

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Hadley Says…, Investment Visas, Special Programmes / 4 responses

Sometimes, Hong Kong residents find themselves changing employers or swapping from a sponsored employment visa to a business investment visa, when their current limit of stay expires and they find themselves ‘without a visa’ whilst the Hong Kong ID are working on their applications. In this instance, so long as you have an ‘active application’ […]

I Worked in Hong Kong for 4 Years – then Left for 2 – and Have a Valid Visa in My Passport – Can I Still Work & then Apply for PR?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / 7 responses

For many foreign national residents, it can take a couple of runs at living in Hong Kong before they catch the bug and realise they want to call the HKSAR their permanent home. Inadvertently, however, such folks can break their continuity of residence and also find themselves back to square one when it comes to […]

Podcast: Play in new window

What’s the Story When You Hold a Hong Kong Work Visa and Face Redundancy?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas / 10 responses

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 make them redundant. In this situation you can expect the employer to notify the HKID of the fact of your redundancy and therefore you need to act on the […]

What’s the Minimum Salary for a Hong Kong Employment Visa Approval?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Musing / 2 responses

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 will perform, at a minimum, supervisory duties under his or her […]

What’s the Basic Income of a Typical Hong Kong Employment Visa Holder?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says… / 5 responses

Many employment visa applicants and the companies which want to hire them struggle with the question of what’s the minimum salary for visa approval? The answer is quite easy really: – The target should be two hundred thousand hong kong dollars each year – This is the total value of the employment not just the […]

Your Hong Kong Employment Visa – What Happens When You Lose Your Job?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says…, Investment Visas / 5 responses

If 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 own […]