Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Topics

Help!! All My Family Are Permanent Residents of Hong Kong and I’m Stuck as a Visitor Due to My Time Spent Studying Abroad – Is There Any Way Forward?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / 5 responses

Sometimes the sun and the moon simply doesn’t align on your Hong Kong immigration situation and, with the system working against you, find yourself orphaned from the rest of your family and questioning the fairness of it all… QUESTION I’m about to kill myself over this visa situation I’m in. I’m Singaporean, but I grew […]

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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’ […]

UPDATE: Hong Kong Prolonged Visitor Visas for British Nationals – the Jury is Still Out After All

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Family Visas, Musing, Refusals & Appeals / 1 response

I am really grateful to Paula Walker of Crown Mobility for engaging last week on the topic of prolonged visitor visas for British nationals seeking to join their loved ones in Hong Kong. Following on from Thursday’s post (where I reported that UK nationals are no longer able to persuade ImmD to grant them prolonged visitor visas) […]

The Visa Geeza on RTHK Radio Three – Jan 2013

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

Phil @ RTHK very kindly had me back in the hot seat on Monday and, no sooner had I sat down, he had us off to the races. We talked a great deal about the Right of Abode and the Right to Land today – and also prolonged visitor visa for a Defacto Spouse. You […]

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The ‘Shenzhen Shuttle’ – A Good Way to Extend Your Hong Kong Visitor Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Hadley Says…, Visitor Visas / 12 responses

Extend Your Hong Kong Visitor Visa Via The Shenzhen Shuttle? What Do ImmD Make Of “The Double Back”?     Practice Update 2026 – This content must be read in light of changes to ImmD practice since it was first published Under Hong Kong immigration control, foreign nationals nearing the expiration of their permitted limit […]

The Hong Kong Immigration Department – What an Efficient Organisation They Really Are!

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Long Stay & PR, Musing / 11 responses

It’s not often that I am required to physically present myself at the Hong Kong Immigration Department these days. My staff usually take care of the administrative aspects of the Hong Kong Visa Centre case load and I have not been in to see the operations of the HKID myself for a couple of years […]

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

Posted by The Visa Geeza / 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 […]

Can I Apply for a Residence Visa for Hong Kong While I Am Visiting?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Hadley Says…, Investment Visas, Special Programmes / 2 responses

In making your decision about making your Hong Kong residence visa application from inside or outside of Hong Kong you really need to consider: • That some types of visa applications such as Mainland Talents and Permanent Residency require you to be specifically inside or outside of Hong Kong when you apply but for most […]

Can I Apply for a Visa After I Have Moved to Hong Kong or Should I Apply Beforehand?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas / 2 responses

In some cases, you simply must be outside of Hong Kong to apply. In others, you definitely have to be in Hong Kong on the day your application is filed. It all depends. There are pros and cons and a lot depends on your nationality too! More Stuff to Help You Along I have been made […]

Shareholder in the Company Employing You? What the Hong Kong Immigration Department Think…

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

PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: The central warning of this piece—that the Hong Kong Immigration Department readily “looks through” corporate structures to dismantle any notion of “visa self-sponsorship”—carries vastly more severe consequences under the upgraded regime. Historically, when ImmD identified an employment visa applicant as […]