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ironopolis
Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 379
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 2:14 am Post subject: Permanent residence in Hong Kong |
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I understand that you can get PR in Hong Kong after living there legally for 7 consecutive years.
Is someone who's been there for 7 years pretty much certain to get PR? Or is it just that you're eligible to apply for it after 7 years, but are then subject to however the bureaucrats dealing with it consider the merits or otherwise of your overall case?
And how about dependants like spouse/kids? Would they also get PR after the same 7 years if they'd been in HK legally for the same amount of time? |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 3:22 am Post subject: |
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Basically yes - it's fairly straightforward. So long as you've paid your taxes and haven't killed anyone, you'll almost certainly get permanent ID after 7 years if you apply for it, along with any dependents. |
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ironopolis
Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 379
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 4:14 am Post subject: |
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Cheers, Perilla. Just the kind of answer I was hoping for.
How easy or difficult is to lose/maintain Hong Kong PR once you've got it? A bit of googling dug up the info that you'd lose your HKPID if you were out of HK for more than 3 years, although the page I found that on was written a few years back. Is that still the case?
Something I'd also be interested in - are there (m)any significant advantages of having a HKPID other than the permanent right of abode there, that you wouldn't have had for the previous 7 years? For example, is it easier to buy property or borrow money than it would have been before gaining PR, as is the case in some other countries? |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 4:40 am Post subject: |
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From what I've heard its reasonably easy to maintain once you have it - certainly coming back here once every few years will keep it going. The impression I have is that if you want to keep it going it's not that hard to do it.
Re. buying property or borrowing large chunks of money, it certainly wouldn't do any harm if you have it.
The main advantage perhaps is that you can do any work you want - no need to mess about with visas. And you get to use the auto-turnstiles at the airport, so no need to queue like everyone else! |
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sistercream
Joined: 18 Dec 2010 Posts: 497 Location: Pearl River Delta
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:50 am Post subject: |
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You can normally also get 3 year multi-entry visitor visas for mainland China (although this sometimes doesn't happen, such as in the '08 run-up to the Olympics). |
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ironopolis
Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 379
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:00 am Post subject: |
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Thank you both again.
A NET specific question, if anyone knows - if you were a SNET/PNET, would you automatically lose the living allowance (or whatever it's called) after you'd got PR?
That'd be a significant disadvantage of it if so. Or could you get away with your school not knowing about such a change in your status? |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:42 am Post subject: |
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ironopolis wrote: |
A NET specific question, if anyone knows - if you were a SNET/PNET, would you automatically lose the living allowance (or whatever it's called) after you'd got PR? |
No. Many NETs (including my wife) have permanent ID, and so far as I'm aware no one's special allowance has been affected yet. They would lose too many teachers, so it's doubtful they will ever bring in such a draconian measure.
The litmus test is whether you regard HK or somewhere else as your main country of residence, and so long as it's somewhere else you're OK. Also, bear in mind that permanent HKID is NOT a passport, ie. unless you become a HK passport holder your home country must be elsewhere. |
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RiverMystic
Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 1986
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:02 am Post subject: |
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What about MPF? I assume that once you become a permanent resident you cannot pull any MPF funds out when you leave? |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:24 am Post subject: |
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RiverMystic wrote: |
What about MPF? I assume that once you become a permanent resident you cannot pull any MPF funds out when you leave? |
My understanding of this is that it's the same rule whether you're a permanent resident or not - you can only take your MPF with you if you sign an undertaking that you don't intend working in HK again (or somesuch). However, as you can imagine, people do end up coming back, in which case you have to jump through a couple of bureaucratic hoops. It's no big deal, I don't think.
However, when I leave (hopefully in a few years and well before I can afford to retire) I intend leaving my MPF alone - it will contribute towards my retirement pot later. |
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