Working Visa Hong Kong

The 100% Free D-I-Y Guide to the Working Visa (Hong Kong) Process

A complete, up-to-date, 100% free, DIY Guide: the Working Visa Hong Kong Handbook contains every possible resource required to effectively undertake a Hong Kong employment visa application at the Hong Kong Immigration Department.

Inside this definitive resources you will find

• A movie presentation setting out the framework to your application
• A complete visa information document discussing all the factors in play for a case approval
• A complete array of application templates to guide your written representations and arguments in support
• All the official forms are downloadable right from the Handbook
• Complete screen cast presentations which serve to help you complete the application  forms efficiently and effectively
• A definitively stated check list of documents is included to which you can ‘tick off’ as you compile your application bundle.
• Step-by-step guidance on how to go about getting your application started.
• In-context audio discussions of the finer points of immigration policy and procedure.
• A detailed overview of the working visa Hong Kong process from 39,000 feet (so to speak).

First written in 1996 and always completely up to date, the Hong Kong Visa Handbook is a unique immigration manual  designed specifically for all those individuals planning to self-manage a visa application at the Hong Kong Immigration Department.

Stephen Barnes

Author, Hong Kong Visa Handbook

Co-Founder, Hong Kong Visa Centre

Straight live-in partners may be able to show an existing cohabitation before coming to HK and are prepared to try in writing the relationship will at last lead directly to a legal wedding are typically able to secure an extended visitor visa to permit the non-resident visa holding de facto better half to live in HK along with their life partner. De facto spouses aren't able to secure HK dependent visas as the guidelines call for legal wedding between the parties. In the process of applying, substantial stress is placed on the previous existence of the de facto relationship and a great amount of documentary evidence with the length of prior cohabitation is named for by the Immigration Office . Letters, images, joint bank records, official communications to both parties at the same address and innumerable different types of evidence all work to support the prerequisites of lengthened visitor visa ( Dependant Visa – Family ) application. With the power to talk English fluently by all of the Immigration officers in HK, the method is increasingly easy. All that must be done is to fill an entry card post landing. This is mostly given while on flight itself. The candidate would then be despatched a copy copy of it.

Settled If an individual is usually resident in the HKSAR and isn't subject to any limit of stay he's ‘settled’. The governing body of the HK Special executive Area ( HKSAR ) uses the following terms to differentiate between different sorts of residents : Normal residence An individual who remains willingly and legally in HK for a fixed purpose ( i.e. Right of Abode The right of abode means you can enter the HKSAR and be unencumbered by any condition of stay. Additionally you can't be deported or removed from the HKSAR. Right to Land If an individual loses the Right of Abode he instantly gets the inalienable right to land.

You've got to put your 10,000,000 bucks into qualifying HK investment assets which we're going to look at in successive slide. Therefore 10,000,000 Hong greenbacks will get you into the game. On that basis, you'll be able to secure a 2 year period of stay which is afterward extendable each 2 years for 7 years ; and then after you hit the seven-year mark, if you have steadily resided in HK for all of that time and that you can declare that you've taken HK as your one place of residence, then you'll be capable of making an application for the right of abode which is permanent residency or, as of right, if you have held this immigration standing for 7 years regardless of the incontrovertible fact that you haven't had constant residency in HK for all of that time, the concept you have kept your assets in HK for the seven years should then grant you the immigration privilege of unconditional stay and so permitting you to release the 10,000,000 HK bucks of your assets and you need to use it some place else while continuing your residence standing in HKSAR. The investments that you make will now be into HK monetary investments only.

HK only recognizes standard ( legal ) dependent partner and youngsters younger than the age of eighteen when they issue dependent visas. Therefore , de facto partner partner family members must be creative in those circumstances. If not, then your companion who is a principal visa holder must be in a position to demonstrate capacity to support you as you remain in HK. The only true choice is to make an application for extended visitor visa. This standing is what we have coined as a ‘slippers and pipe’ visa in so much is it permits the holder to stay in HK for extended time period to avail some residency, it does not provide authorizations to work, join in or set up a business or do an official course of study. the number one challenge is to be in a position to satisfy the HK Immigration Office that there's a real existing relationship concerning previous cohabitation outside of HK and so the sponsoring HK resident partner can put a roof over his partner’s head and food on her table. There's a secondary challenge too in the sense that the Immigration Office will have to be satisfied the lengthened visitor visa ( Dependant Visa – Family ) holding de facto better half won't be nearly convinced to break her conditions of stay by taking part in unapproved work or business activities while holding her extended visitor visa. In case the candidate misplaces this card, he needs to submit a fresh one altogether. Additionally, HK officially insists upon the visitor having a return picket scheduled in previous before landing on its soil.

But this has been infrequently applied to in practice. Therefore the net gain to us? Nothing.” That despite, for several years, there wasn't any chance to make an insignificant finance investment in HK and secure immigration standing, as formerly all investments wanted to have a supporting or core business that would explain the grant of an investment visa. If the candidate proves his design of going toward China, it is acceptable proof enough. You may be a Chinese resident of Macau maybe a non-Chinese resident of Macau and also Taiwan. Therefore the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme has added terribly unique and also valuable addition to the immigration tools that are accessible for folks desiring to take up residency in HK.

Now the Govt issues 2 differing types of identity cards : middot,HK Permanent Identity Card, which states the holder has got the right of abode in HK middot,HK Identity Card, which doesn't confirm that right Becoming an Normal Resident You become a normal resident if you successfully requested a student visa, investment visa of working visa. You may be a PRC passport holder ; but you've got to have residency overseas ; you can't be resident on the Mainland ; and if you're a stateless person holding permanent residency in another country with authorized re-entry visa into that country that country, you're also able to make an application in the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme immigration programme. An alternative choice is Residence as a dependent. Work Visa It is easy to get a work visa if a local company wants to use you and you can evidence that someone with your qualifications cannot be found regionally. Per law any company has to fill an open job position with neighbors first.

De facto spouses can't secure HK dependent visas as the guidelines call for legal wedding between the parties. A lengthened visitor visa ( Dependant Visa – Family ) however doesn't avail all of a right to work, to start a business or take up a formalised course of study. Nevertheless hetero live-in partners can show an existing cohabitation before coming to HK and are prepared to try in writing the relationship will ultimately lead straight to a legal wedding are customarily ready to secure a lengthened visitor visa to permit the non-resident visa holding de facto better half to live in HK along with their life partner. Right to Land If an individual loses the Right of Abode he mechanically gets the inalienable right to land. In the process of applying, substantial stress is placed on the previous existence of the de facto relationship and a good deal of documentary evidence with the length of prior cohabitation is known as for by the Immigration Office . The single difference between the Prerogative to Abode is that somebody with a Right to Land could be barred from the HKSAR. In either of the above cases you'll get an identity card. Another choice is Residence as a dependent.

You can put them to suitable collective investment firms, the Immigration Dep. publish a catalogue of firms which are acceptable and qualify under the Scheme and re the Immigration Dept internet site, it'll show you precisely which of these funds which should suffice for the sake of approvability and it may be possible to make a mix of all these allowable investment asset sectors so you are always about to make up the total of 10,000,000 greenbacks that you to have as investments. Therefore you have a commitment to the programme and you're going to put your cash in. how does it work? Well, if you have just invested the money in the six months straight before to application submission or else you will invest inside six months of the approval and principal being granted to different sets of outcomes appear. If you're going to invest inside six months of the approval in theory being granted, you then are granted a Visitor Visa for a maximum period of six months which lets you come to HK and permits you to sort out your investments and make your investment, once finished, you're able to secure formal approval which basically not if you invested already before submitting the application when you'll move directly to formal approval and you do not have to fret about the approval and principal techniques. Hence it gives you acceptable time make your move over to HK, and you'll be able to secure an extension each two-years after that on the grounds that you have maintained your 10,000,000 greenback portfolio at that point and the extension process is aimed towards an assessments of portfolio upkeep ; that is the key consideration for granting extensions everywhere ; and after you've got seven years continual residency in HK or you have held this immigration standing, the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme immigration standing for seven years and you'll be able to either make an application for the right of abode or else you will be well placed to adjust your stay to unconditional stay standing ; and in both cases, you'll be ready to release the 10,000,000 HK bucks that might have uses having served its purposes under the capital investment non-permanent screening. The Immigration Office will expect the sponsoring defacto better half resident in HK will have adequate means to be well placed to support financially the lengthened visitor visa holding partner. When the HK Immigration Dep.

look to offer a visa solution where there's a de facto partner situation, there are 4 essential areas of consideration. This related, they will not be asking you to be married in the subsequent six months ; and as mentioned as we are only getting an extended visitor visa, the standing that comes with the visitor visa permits residence but doesn't permit you to join in a business or take up work. Moderately ironically, the Immigration Office expects the parties will try in writing that their relationship will ultimately lead straight to a legal wedding and extended visitor visas in these circumstances are customarily granted for a period of less than six months ; and when you go thru the method of extending your lengthened visitor visa, you may just have to submit another undertaking to the effect that your relationship to the very best of your faith will finally lead straight to legal wedding. The residents of the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand don't have to obtain a visa to enter HK. Therefore it’s very much a ‘slippers and pipe’ type immigration standing. Nevertheless they're allowed to live in the country for a period of 90 days. For example, the subjects of UK are allowed to live in HK for a period of half a year at a push. This validity needs to be obviously indicated on the passport also.

Since the October 2010, changes re allowable asset sectors under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme and the removal of the estate from the list, the exercise in supplying the paperwork supporting the application is a relatively easy one. Most generally candidates for Capital Investment Entrant Scheme nowadays have some type of qualified financial counsellor who certifies and manages these assets for you. Hence as well as the representations and supporting info which that asset executive will supply you re your request, you just need to submit all of the evidence that you have re your own family members and your necessary suitability otherwise under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme programme. the exercise in getting the paperwork list together for this programme is a relatively simple one.. Obviously, new defacto relations will struggle to satisfy the prerequisites of the Immigration Dept and extended visitor visa applications.

If an extended visitor visa holder proposes to travel outside of HK in the validity period of the lengthened visitor visa, she'll need to make an application for a re-entry visa. Otherwise, the extended visitor visa standing will be instantly canceled at the time of exit. Dependent Visa If you're married to an individual who is permanent resident or is used in HK, you can make an application for a Dependent Visa and afterwards for an Identity Card. This re-entry visa helps re-entry into HK under the current extended visitor visa period of stay and obviates the obligation to go thru the powerful lengthened visitor visa application assessment process everytime an extended visitor visa ( Dependant Visa – Family ) holder wants an extension of stay. Getting the Right of Abode & Permanent Identity Card After 7 years of standard residence in HK you can apply to become a permanent resident. Naturally you've got to essentially reside in the HKSAR for much of the time, but the target of the govt to distibute permanent resident standing and the right of abode is that you have filed your tax estimate and paid taxed for the last 7 years.

But this has been barely applied to in practice. Similarly you may have to show why you select HK as the location for permanent residency. Nonetheless the above shouldn't be believed to be an information. Incorporated ase, the candidate wishes to extent his stay, he's got the option of going on a one short break to Macau and then come back to get another 90 days of permit to remain. For those planning to live, work or study in HK, they would make an application for a visa at a Chinese consulate or the HK Embassy closest to their country of origin. Hence the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme has added awfully unique and also valuable addition to the immigration tools that are accessible for folks desiring to take up residency in HK. So as to be a qualifying countrywide, you may be effectively any voter except if you're a countrywide of Afghanistan, Cuba, North Korea and Albania. You may be a Chinese resident of Macau or perhaps a non-Chinese resident of Macau and also Taiwan. You may be a PRC passport holder ; but you've got to have residency overseas ; you can't be resident on the Mainland ; and if you're a stateless person holding permanent residency in another country with authorised re-entry visa into that country that country, you're also able to make an application in the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme immigration programme.

Applications for extended visitor visas ( Dependant Visa – Family ) are best submitted after arrival in HK, on the Immigration Office form ID91. The application itself is solely to remain in HK as a visitor on an extended basis on the power of the relationship with your defacto partner. Hence please see the separate section on the right way to apply with particular details. The application itself should be handled like it's an application for dependent visa. Investment Visa If you'd like to invest an outstanding amount of cash in a HK business and can prove your desire to be in HK for that, you can sign up for an investment visa. The prerequisites for this are typically fairly high and many individuals select the work visa instead by employing them self in their company. Dependent Visa If you're married to someone who is permanent resident or is used in HK, you can sign up for a Dependent Visa and afterwards for an Identity Card.

Student Visa Try the details on any varsity / administration college site. This validity needs to be obviously indicated on the passport too. For example, the residents of UK are allowed to live in HK for a period of half a year at a push. All that must be done is to fill an entry card post landing. With the facility to talk English fluently by all of the Immigration officers in HK, the method is increasingly simple.

HK only recognizes conventional ( legal ) dependent better half and kids younger than the age of eighteen when they issue dependent visas. As an example, do you qualify for authorization under either visa classes in your own right? The only true choice is to make an application for extended visitor visa. Therefore , de facto better half partner family members must be creative in those circumstances. This standing is what we have coined as a ‘slippers and pipe’ visa in so much is it permits the holder to stay in HK for extended time period to avail some residency, nevertheless it does not provide authorizations to work, join in or set up a business or try a formalised course of study. Therefore 10,000,000 Hong bucks will get you into the game. On that basis, you'll be in a position to secure a 2 year period of stay which is afterward extendable each 2 years for 7 years ; and then after you hit the seven-year mark, if you have steadily resided in HK for all of that time and that you're able to declare that you've taken HK as your one place of residence, then you'll be capable of making an application for the right of abode which is permanent residency or, as of right, if you have held this immigration standing for 7 years regardless of the incontrovertible fact that you haven't had continuing residency in HK for all of that time, the assumption that you have kept your assets in HK for the seven years should then grant you the immigration privilege of unconditional stay and so permitting you to release the 10,000,000 HK greenbacks of your assets and you need to use it somewhere else while continuing your residence standing in HKSAR. The investments that you make will now be into HK money investments only. Key points to consider in the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme programme are that you can bring your folks outlined as legal better half and unwed youngsters younger than the age of eighteen to secure dependent visas, but the 10,000,000 HK bucks that you invest into HK must have been owned by you for no less than 2 clear years before the application submission and also you must be in a position to show that as well as the 10,000,000 greenbacks, you're able to support yourself in HK without drawing down of any of those 10,000,000 greenbacks worth of assets. Getting the Right of Abode & Permanent Identity Card After 7 years of standard residence in HK you can apply to become a permanent resident.

Dependent Visa If you're married to someone who is permanent resident or is used in HK, you can make an application for a Dependent Visa and afterwards for an Identity Card. Naturally you have got to essentially reside in the HKSAR for much of the time, but the target of the govt to distibute permanent resident standing and the right of abode is that you have filed your taxation assessment and paid taxed for the last 7 years. Similarly you may have to show why you select HK as the location for permanent residency. Nonetheless the above shouldn't be believed to be a guidance. But this has been seldom applied to in practice. Incorporated ase, the candidate wishes to extent his stay, he's got the option of going on a one short trip to Macau and then come back to get another 90 days of permit to remain. For those planning to live, work or study in HK, they would make an application for a visa at a Chinese consulate or the HK Embassy closest to their country of origin.

A lengthened visitor visa ( Dependant Visa – Family ) however doesn't avail all of the prerogative to work, to start a business or take up an official course of study. De facto spouses can not secure HK dependent visas as the guidelines call for legal wedding between the parties. Letters, pictures, joint bank records, official communications to both parties at the same address and numerous other types of evidence all work to support the prerequisites of extended visitor visa ( Dependant Visa – Family ) application. In the procedure of applying, substantial stress is placed on the previous existence of the de facto relationship and a good deal of documentary explanation with the length of prior cohabitation is named for by the Immigration Dept . There isn't any decisive set of documentary proof in such cases. Now the Govt. issues 2 differing types of identity cards : middot,HK Permanent Identity Card, which states the holder has got the right of abode in HK middot,HK Identity Card, which doesn't say right Becoming an Standard Resident You become a normal resident if you successfully requested a student visa, investment visa of working visa. Another choice is Residence as a dependent.

Work Visa It is easy to get a work visa if a local company wants to use you and you can evidence that someone with your qualifications cannot be found hereabouts. Per law any company has to try and fill an open job position with neighbors first. The Immigration Office will expect the sponsoring defacto partner resident in HK will have acceptable means to be well placed to support financially the lengthened visitor visa holding partner. This declared, they will not be asking you to be married in the following six months ; and as mentioned as we are only getting a lengthened visitor visa, the standing that comes with the visitor visa permits residence but doesn't permit you to join in a business or take up work. Rather ironically, the Immigration Dept expects the parties will try in writing that their relationship will ultimately lead straight to a legal wedding and extended visitor visas in these circumstances are often granted for a period of only six months ; and when you go thru the method of extending your lengthened visitor visa, you may just have to submit another undertaking to the effect that your relationship to the very best of your faith will finally lead straight to legal wedding. Hence it’s very much a ‘slippers and pipe’ type immigration standing.

Most usually candidates for Capital Investment Entrant Scheme nowadays have a type of qualified finance consultant who certifies and manages these assets for you. Since the October 2010, changes re allowable asset sectors under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme and the removal of the property from the list, the exercise in supplying the paperwork supporting the application is a relatively simple one. Therefore as well as the representations and supporting info which that asset executive will supply you re your claim, you need to submit all of the evidence that you have re your own family members and your necessary suitability otherwise under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme programme. the exercise in getting the paperwork list together for this programme is an easy one.. Having a quick look at the trail to approval under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, you have to be at least eighteen years old to apply.

You have got to be in a position to show that you have beneficially owned those assets which are currently being invested into HK for an effective minimum period of 2 years before the making of the investment, but you want to invest inside six months of either making your request or having your request authorised into allowable investment asset sectors which are really money funds into qualifying investments in HK. You've got to invest 10,000,000 HK bucks. You have got to be able to show that you've got no detrimental record ( either immigration or criminal ) be it in HK or some place else and you have to be self adequate above and beyond the 10,000,000 HK greenbacks you are going to invest into the HKSAR. This standing is what we have coined as a ‘slippers and pipe’ visa in so much is it permits the holder to stay in HK for extended period to avail some residency, it does not provide authorizations to work, join in or set up a business or try an official course of study. When the HK Immigration Dept look to supply a visa solution where there's a de facto partner situation, there are 4 essential areas of consideration. Single youngsters of the defacto relationship below the age of eighteen will be regarded as legal relatives and thus able to secure dependent visas. First is that the parties must show they are in a loving committed relationship ; and because they'll be living together in HK, the Immigration Office will expect to see evidence that there had been an established cohabitation overseas before coming to HK.

Dependent Visa If you're married to an individual who is permanent resident or is used in HK, you can sign up for a Dependent Visa and afterwards for an Identity Card. Getting the Right of Abode & Permanent Identity Card After 7 years of normal residence in HK you can apply to become a permanent resident. Naturally you've got to essentially reside in the HKSAR for much of the time, but the important point of the govt. to distibute permanent resident standing and the right of abode is that you have filed your tax assessment and paid taxed for the last 7 years. Similarly you could have to show why you select HK as the location for permanent residency.

Many a times, folk get mystified about the visa procedures between China and HK. The HK visa process remains the same as it was under the English administration. This country is thought to be a crucial business center as well as a popular holiday maker spot. Therefore , to minister to its USP, its visa conditions are quite flexible and simple to be met. The step after that is for you to check the visa info document. This details every one of the necessary parts of the successfully disagreed HK visa case and contains in-context links to all the resources wanted to prep your application.

These include application templates, the net application forms, screen casts somehow to finish the forms, a tick list of all of the documents you want to prepare as an element of the submission bundle, a crib sheet regarding how to submit your request and audio dialogues of a few of the finer points in official policy and procedures, and precise case examples from past times which may serve to help by way of illustration. Let’s go thru visa info document now. The step after that is for you to study the visa info document. This details every one of the necessary parts of the successfully disagreed HK visa case and contains in context links to all the resources wanted to preparing your claim. These include application templates, the net application forms, screen casts on the best way to complete the forms, a list of all of the documents you want to prepare as a part of the submission bundle, a crib sheet on the way to submit your claim and audio dialogues of a number of the finer points in the official policy and process and particular case examples from history which should serve to help BTW of illustration..