Job Discussion Forums

[Horizontal Hero]

This is just a little bit of advice for anybody who has a Chinese spouse who is thinking of coming to HK.

When I came to HK I did not consider the hassles I would have because my wife is mainland Chinese. I just assumed she would get the NETS spouse's visa, and thus would have at least a small chance of working here. But there are a few problems you should consider if your spouse is a mainlander and he/she doesn't have a passport from a foreign country.

1) The HK Immigration Department does not grant spouse's visas to mainlanders. Even those who have passports from foreign countries may have problems. The best case scenario is the three-month business visa which can be organized in your spouse�s hometown. It took my wife about two weeks to process the visa each time.

2) Mainlanders can only work in HK if they qualify as a "professional." The criteria are pretty strict.

3) Mainlanders are not eligible for medical coverage in HK. Unless you are covered by medical from China, your spouse will pay a minimum of HK$3300 a day for a basic hospital bed, and up to HK$18 000 per day for more intensive care. The same bed costs HK locals as little as $HK100 a day, without medical coverage. We were caught out recently on this one.

3) There is lots of prejudice against mainlanders in HK, and your spouse may find it a bit uncomfortable here.

There are plenty of good things about HK, but just be prepared for the particular problems I outline here if your spouse is a mainlander.

P.S. Nepalese are also facing similar problems in HK at present.

[Blaise]

HH,

I bet your wife looks like Miss China - am I right or am I right?

[Travel Zen]

Nepalese, Africans, Philipinos, Indians, darker skinned Arabs...... the list is almost endless.


Hong Kong is sucha cheerful place

[Roger]

Nothing unusual in your wife's situation; the HK authorities have their own priorities in selecting IMMIGRANTS, and as a mainlander your wife is hardly any different to you - she is an alien. That's not how I would want things to be, but that's the reality borne out by demographics: Hongkongers consider themselves an identity apart from mainlanders, and so do mainland authorities. THis is the give-and-take that has been enshrined in the agreements between the U.K and the PR of C that cover HK's return to the PR of C. Hong Kong is still a separate economic and legal jurisdiction; Hongkongers working and living on the mainland are treated differently too - I would call it "preferentially".

HK has to take care of its crowded conditions and is attracting well-heeled and well-educated migrants. Even the white spouses of NETs in HK have to abide by the same logic and law that applies to your wife - they can't work legally in HK!

[once again]

"White" spouses of NETs in HK are perfecly able to work depending on a number of factors. If the sponsoring adult has a permanent visa for HK, then a spouse is allowed to work on a dependant visa. However, if the sponsoring spouse is her/himself here on a working visa, the spouse can work provided that he/she obtains sponsorship from a company or organisation. With the first there is an ability to work by virtue of marriage (if you like to see it that way), and with the second there is the right to work provided that a potential employer can show that the person is in a skill catagory set of which there is a shortage in HK. Hence, white spouses of NETs in HK are perfectly able to work here legally.

[Susie]

HH, now that you know that the HK Immigration Department won't let your Mainland work in HK just because you have a NET visa, it seems to me that your wife has at least three options:-

Join a university in Hong Kong and do a course of study (get a student's visa) then graduate in one of the PROFESSIONS and find a job afterwards;

Try to get a foreign passport and apply again for a HK work visa;

Keep doing what she's doing.

Immigrants are kept down here, the people have spoken through the law, they don't want immigrants coming in, but for the brave and fool hardy who do come in the message is clear, you won't be allowed to work here.

[Horizontal Hero]

[Everest]

Horizontal

You and I are in the same boat. I'm an Irishman with a mainland wife currently living in Shenzhen. This year I plan to teach in HK. We have a baby daughter with an Irish passport and so she can go back and forth without a problem (once she's figured out how to use her legs) but my wife is the problem. Crazy - isn't it? - that I can take my kiddie to Disneyland HK, but my wife can't come with us.

However, when I contacted HK immigration, they told that IF my wife has a mainland passport (she does) and IF that passport contains a visa granting her permanent rights of abode in a western country (it does) that there is no problem with her joining me in HK as a dependent. She's been told to simply send off all of her documents to the HK Liaison Unit in Beijing and that a visa will be issued to her. The reply I received was detailed and courteous and it didn't imply anything problematic in her application. Have the rules changed recently, do you think?

It is especially important for us that my wife can join me in HK, because aside from anything else I want our daughter educated there rather than the mainland for reasons I am sure would be obvious to anyone familiar with both places.

[Horizontal Hero]

Good luck with it all Everest.

The reason I said spouses with foreign passports may also have troubles was because I know of one incident where that was the case - political assistance had to be garnererd from Australia before they would grant the visa (taking one year and a hell of a of of trouble). That was a couple of years ago I think.