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Hadley Says

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

May 1st, 2012

Posted by / 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 business.

Ninety-nine per cent of the time, the Hong Kong Immigration Department will allow you to carry on living in Hong Kong until your current visa expires but you’re expected to leave at that time.

But if you find another employer or have made ready to start your own business you can apply for new visa permissions to continue living and working in Hong Kong – and get a 12 months extension to your present period of stay in the process.

But in either case you have to make the applications and get the Hong Kong ID’s approval before you start working – otherwise you’ll be breaking the law.

More Stuff To Help You Along

I have been made redundant but my wife is working – can we swap our Hong Kong employment and spouse visas around so I can become her dependant in Hong Kong?

What’s the story when you hold a Hong Kong employment visa and face redundancy?

Redundancy – the process pitfalls of an expiring Hong Kong employment visa

How to apply for a Hong Kong investment visa without any professional help

What to do if you find yourself in the Hong Kong visa ‘twilight zone’

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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.

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RESPONSES
  • MA

    20 Nov 2023 pm30 5:19pm
    01

    Hi,

    I have a few questions regarding Employment law and I believe I may need your help and guidance. Here is the situation, my girlfriend currently employed by a local luxury brand as a Brand manager, is being forced into signing a completely new contract out of the blue, that states a role change into more of a retail worker with sales targets and a reduction in her salary. First question is regarding whether this is legal in the first place or not?

    Secondly, if she were to get terminated, will she be allowed to stay in HK as long as her HK visa and HKID are valid? and if so, can she travel in and out of the country freely or does she need to stay in HK?

    Thirdly, together we own a fashion brand ourselves, she is a 50% shareholder of the company which is also registered in Hong Kong. The company is fairly new and small so we don’t make huge profits. Can she apply for a visa under the company? And if so how?

    I understand, I may need to obviously pay for legal advice and I am happy to do so. Please let me know how we can get in touch. Thank you.

    • The Visa Geeza

      21 Nov 2023 am30 10:56am
      02

      I have a few questions regarding Employment law and I believe I may need your help and guidance. Here is the situation, my girlfriend currently employed by a local luxury brand as a Brand manager, is being forced into signing a completely new contract out of the blue, that states a role change into more of a retail worker with sales targets and a reduction in her salary. First question is regarding whether this is legal in the first place or not?

      >>This is principally an employment law matter (for which I am not qualified to answer) but I can tell you from an immigration perspective such a chnage in compensation, title and duities is a notifiable event to ImmD and would need their approval before coming into effect.

      Secondly, if she were to get terminated, will she be allowed to stay in HK as long as her HK visa and HKID are valid? and if so, can she travel in and out of the country freely or does she need to stay in HK?

      >> Yes – see: https://hongkongvisageeza.com/hong-kong-employment-visa-sponsorship-2/

      Thirdly, together we own a fashion brand ourselves, she is a 50% shareholder of the company which is also registered in Hong Kong. The company is fairly new and small so we don’t make huge profits. Can she apply for a visa under the company? And if so how?

      >> It’s not impossible but we would need to discuss. Pls ping me on sbarnes at hkvisacentre dot com

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