Job Discussion Forums

[ironopolis]

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?

[Perilla]

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.

[ironopolis]

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?

[Perilla]

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!

[sistercream]

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).

[ironopolis]

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?

[Perilla]

[RiverMystic]

What about MPF? I assume that once you become a permanent resident you cannot pull any MPF funds out when you leave?

[Perilla]