The Perils of Contriving a Job Offer Just for the Purposes of a Hong Kong Employment Visa Application
Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Hadley Says… / 17 responses
Pretending You Have A Job Offer To Get A Hong Kong Employment Visa?
Updated August 22, 2023
What are the consequences of providing false information to an Immigration Officer in Hong Kong? Is it worth the risk to pretend you have a job offer for a Hong Kong employment visa?Â
Is It Worth The Risk?
Need a Hong Kong employment visa? Sometimes foreign nationals in Hong Kong take the view that it is acceptable to collaborate in the conjuring up of a job offer just for the purposes of helping a friend or professional colleague secure a Hong Kong employment visa.
However, this is fraught with danger and should not be seriously considered as an acceptable way forward in pursuit of a residence visa here.
Immigration Department policy is, and always has been, that the job offer underpinning an application for an employment visa must be for a genuine vacancy.
Moreover, it is a criminal offence to tell lies to an Immigration Officer.
So, if you are party to an employment visa application where the job is in fact not a genuine one, then you are at considerable risk of:
Criminal Prosecution
For making false representations to an Immigration Officer.
A Negative Prior Immigration Record
For both the applicant and the alleged employment visa sponsor.
Discovery of the Contrivance
When the limit of stay comes up for renewal at the time of employment visa extension.
At the time of an application for the Right of Abode after 7 years.
During the currency of any genuine third-party application for an employment visa by the sponsor subsequently.
Hong Kong Employment Visas Require A Genuine Job Offer
Just because the Hong Kong Immigration Department deploy a flexible, non-bureaucratic employment visa application consideration process, it is churlish to expect that they do not have control mechanisms in place for fishing out suspicious applications – especially those where the job offer is not a genuine one.
So please, no matter how much you are tempted, do NOT contrive a job offer just for Hong Kong employment visa purposes.
The risks to the ersatz employer and the visa applicant him or herself are very great indeed.
Hong Kong Employment Visa Risk Of Criminal Prosecution
Making a misrepresentation to a Hong Kong immigration officer is not a good idea due to severe legal consequences. ImmD take immigration matters very seriously and lying to an Immigration Officer is considered a serious offence under the Immigration Ordinance.
Providing false information to an Immigration Officer may lead to detention, prosecution, and potential imprisonment..
Furthermore, providing inaccurate information to an Immigration Officer may damage an individual’s credibility, and ultimately jeopardize their chances of entering or remaining in Hong Kong.
Misrepresenting oneself is widely regarded as unscrupulous, unprofessional and disrespectful behaviour towards the authorities, advocating dishonesty in an official immigration process that aims to promote transparency, legality, and compliance with immigration law.
Consequently, it is important to ensure that all relevant information provided to an Immigration Officer is correct and truthful to avoid any legal issues.
What are the consequences of providing false information to an Immigration Officer in Hong Kong? Is it worth the risk to pretend you have a job offer for a Hong Kong employment visa? Are there any alternatives to contriving a job offer?The Hong Kong immigration system has strict regulations and requirements, and any breaches of these can lead to negative consequences that extend beyond an individual’s immigration status.
So, please don’t be tempted to pretend you have a job offer just to solve a Hong Kong employment visa problem.
It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book!
More Stuff You May Find Useful Or Interesting
Is There Such An Animal As A ‘Flexible Working Visa’ For Hong Kong?
How To Get A Hong Kong Employment Visa Automatically With No Questions Asked!
The Long Stay Visitor’s Awkward Predicament
How A Hong Kong Employment Visa Application Can Go Completely Wrong If You Don’t Know What You’re Doing!
Getting A Working Visa For Hong Kong Is Just A Matter Of Filling In The Forms, Right?
Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai
All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive
100% FREE!
Please select the social network you want to share this page with:
The Hong Kong Visa Geeza (a.k.a Stephen Barnes) is a co-founder of the Hong Kong Visa Centre and author of the Hong Kong Visa Handbook. A law graduate of the London School of Economics, Stephen has been practicing Hong Kong immigration since 1993 and is widely acknowledged as the leading authority on business immigration matters here for the last 24 years.
ST
What do you recommend instead to show proof that an employer cannot find a local person to fill the role? When the person they want to hire is already known, available, skilled and foreign? Is this something that doesn’t need addressing until the application is underway, and the immigration department requests it? Thanks
The Visa Geeza
You need to demonstrate that genuine efforts have been made to source the talent locally BEFORE the job was offered to a foreigner. If not, then you have to carft a detailed justification why no local recruitment efforts was made and see if that works. You do this during the application itself.