Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Topics

Interview: Is the Hong Kong Immigration Department Website Actually Fit For Purpose?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Musing, Refusals & Appeals, Special Programmes, Visitor Visas / 16 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 […]

The Visa Geeza on RTHK Radio Three – August 2013

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Musing / 1 response

  Phil Whelan was on holiday in Bali  last week when we coordinated my visit to him on his Morning Brew show over at RTHK Radio 3 yesterday. It was clear that he’d been thinking about a few things visa and immigration related whilst sunning himself by the pool as no sooner had I sat […]

Podcast: Play in new window

Can You Continue to Work If You Find Yourself In the Hong Kong Visa Extension Twilight Zone?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says… / 3 responses

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, the question is, can you still work when you find yourself in this kind of twilight zone […]

Can an Offshore Company Sponsor a Hong Kong Employment or Business Investment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says…, Investment Visas / 6 responses

You may be a director, shareholder or an employee of a company which is not incorporated in Hong Kong but thinking about the possibility of setting up shop here. In such a case, is it possible for the overseas incorporated entity to sponsor employment or business investment visa permissions for one of their officers or […]

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? […]

Why Don’t Immigration Consultants Typically Help Aspiring Employees Find Jobs in Hong Kong?

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

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 […]

What Happens if You Inadvertently Breach Your Conditions of Stay by Taking Up an Unauthorised Employment in Hong Kong Without First Applying for a Change of Sponsorship?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas, Investment Visas, VG Front Page / 10 responses

Under Hong Kong immigration law, foreign nationals are granted employment visa permissions to undertake work for a specific employer on the nominated terms and conditions of the employment agreement which underpins the work permissions granted on the issue of the initial visa, any subsequent change of sponsorship approval or your last employment visa extension. Any […]

I Will Only Be Working in Hong Kong For 6 Weeks – Should I Bother Getting an Employment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says… / 3 responses

Hong Kong immigration law is very clear about the need for foreign nationals to secure permission to work in Hong Kong. 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 secure the consent of the Director […]

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

Is It Actually Becoming Harder to Get Your Hong Kong Employment or Investment Visa Approved?

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

One refrain about the Hong Kong visa process that I have heard constantly down the years is that ‘it’s getting tougher’. In fact, it always seems to be ‘getting tougher’. I heard this prior to 1997 when all the British nationals needed to bring their immigration status into line with the arrangements for UK citizens […]