Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Topics

What Do The Immigration Department Look For When Establishing The Bona Fides Of A Hong Kong Employer As A Suitable AND Credible Sponsor Under The Immigration Arrangements For Non-local Graduates?

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

Can any old entity successfully sponsor an employment visa extension under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates? What qualifies a Hong Kong employer as a suitable and credible sponsor? PRACTICE UPDATE: How to read in light of current ImmD policy: While the historical case advisory in What Do The Immigration Department Look For When Establishing […]

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Will Performance-Based Equity Compensation Suffice Instead Of A Cash Salary For A Hong Kong Employment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Investment Visas, Your Question Answered / 2 responses

To what extend the salary can be replaced with performance-based equity compensation in case of a Hong Kong employment visa? No one has asked me this type of question about compensation for employees for about 17 years now so I’m grateful to the questioner for raising it as she did. QUESTION I have successfully registered […]

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Can I Still Sponsor A Hong Kong Dependant Visa For My New Wife If I Hold An Employment Visa But Am Presently Between Jobs?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Your Question Answered / 2 responses

What will ImmD make of an application to sponsor a dependant visa by a Hong Kong employment visa holding foreign national who doesn’t presently have a job here? QUESTION I am in between jobs (currently on an employment visa in Hong Kong) and plan to get married soon (outside HK). I would like to arrange […]

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Hong Kong Employment Visa Self-Sponsorship – The Reality For Entrepreneurs Masquerading As Employees

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Investment Visas, Musing / 6 responses

PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: This warning against attempting to bypass the investment visa test by setting up a company, owning shares, and applying for an employment visa as a “self-sponsored employee” carries far heavier consequences today. Historically, ImmD would simply “pierce the corporate veil,” […]

The 7 Things Your Employer Needs To Know About The Immigration Process When Applying For A Hong Kong Employment Visa

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Musing / 6 responses

Applying for a Hong Kong Employment Visa? You’ve been offered a job in Hong Kong and you need an employment visa. But your new employer has no experience about the process, so what do you need to tell them? 1. Firstly, there’s the approvability test – namely – you need to possess special skills, knowledge […]

What Do You Need To Do If There Has Been A Change In The Details Of Your Hong Kong Employment Visa Sponsor But No Change In Your Employer?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas / 3 responses

Important Steps to Take When Your Hong Kong Employment Visa Details Change Sometimes, though not very often, the corporate entity sponsoring an employment visa for a foreign national employee working in Hong Kong, may undergo a reorganisation or a repositioning in relation to its operations here and, consequently, it can be no longer said that […]

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 […]

How Do Brand New Businesses Establish Their Financial Bona Fides To Be Deemed A Suitable And Credible Sponsor For A Hong Kong Employment Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Your Question Answered / 1 response

Your company is brand new – will ImmD buy into your intentions to sponsor a foreign national to be the first employee?  QUESTION As a new company I want to hire a manager who has special talent from overseas? How can I prove our financial capability as a new company? ANSWER In a completely new […]

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Will The Hong Kong Immigration Department Tell You Why A Visitor Visa Application Has Been Refused?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Refusals & Appeals, Visitor Visas, Your Question Answered / 2 responses

Do ImmD Give Reasons Why Why a Visitor Visa Application Has Been Refused? One of the more frustrating aspects of dealing with the Hong Kong Immigration Department is the almost total lack of visibility on why applications get refused. No more so when it relates to a ‘limited purpose’ application for a visa to visit […]

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How Can An Overseas Company Temporarily Sponsor Employment Visa Permissions For Hong Kong?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Your Question Answered / 2 responses

Practice Update 2026 – This content must be read in light of changes to ImmD practice since it was first published Under Hong Kong immigration law, foreign corporations dispatching staff to execute local assignments encounter a fundamental jurisdictional hurdle: an overseas entity cannot directly sponsor a conventional work visa without establishing an approved local operational […]

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