Job Discussion Forums

[buddhaboyjp]

Greetings,

I shall be in HK on July 26 of this year and will be married to a native HK person on July 29 and shall soon after recieve my 'Dependant' visa.

I am still located in Japan, and shall slowly close things down here for the big move.

Can I work with this kind of Visa?

Qualifications at that time will be:
TEFL certified
AA degree
12 yrs experience teaching all ages and levels
Now enrolled to finish last 2 yrs for BA in Literature

As always, thanks for your kindness.

[well-travelled]

In recent years, as I understand it, a dependent visa did not give you an automatic right to employment in HK. However, the HK government has very recently (last week??) decided to relax this restriction and soon people on dependent visas will once again be allowed to get a job without having to jump through the various bureaucratic hoops.

well-travelled

[buddhaboyjp]

[well-travelled]

I'm a NET teacher and am only passing on information from what I've garnered from other NETs on the couple of NET yahoo group sites that I'm a member of.

It seems that most NETs with unemployed spouses on dependent visas have had serious problems because the dependents have no automatic right to employment in HK.

To get a job these dependents need to be sponsored by the company that wshes to employ them. Many companies have baulked at this because they don't want to go through all the bureaucratic hassle involved - they prefer to employ people who already have the right to work in HK.

It seems, in theory, that the new regulations will make the process easier. How this will work in practice, I really don't know.

But it does seem a step in the right direction.

well-travelled

[buddhaboyjp]

[Joachim]

[once again]

This is the situation as I understand it. If your spouse is a HK native with a permanent ID, you DO have the legal right to work in HK. You will not have to apply for a change of status and there will be no extra paper work involved for the employer.

The previous law change effected dependants of people who were themselves on work visas. Hence, the spouses of NET who are on work visas, are not allowed to work by virtue of only the dependant visa-they must have an employer to sponsor them.

So, I think you should be able to work. If you check previous posts you should be able to find a link to the correct immigration department web page.

[buddhaboyjp]

[buddhaboyjp]

[buddhaboyjp]

This is the latest Immigration policy that pertains to the 'newbies' like me.
My fiancee (HK permanant residant) sent to me and will do a follow up this Tuesday.

The bold is mine, which shows a bit of confusion, but never the less, it all looks good for me and others like me. If I understand the bold section correctly, sounds like a Dependant, who is married to a visa holder.
For example; An American, like me, who is married to a mainland Chinese.
But does not explain how this 'depedant' got the their visa in the first place. Maybe a person who is divorced from an HK permanant residant? This is not my case.




New policy on entry of dependants to Hong Kong



The Hong Kong Immigration Department Remove Working Privileges for New Dependent Visa Holders from July 1, 2003

Stephen D. Barnes, Director, Emigra Asia

In a long expected revamp of existing policy, the Director of Immigration deftly ended one of the most advantageous privileges for foreign national dependants in Hong Kong as of July 1, 2003 � their automatic ability to work under the terms of their dependant visa consents.

This new policy will only apply to dependant visas which are issued after the date of the implementation of the policy and is not retroactive. Therefore existing dependant visa holders will not be affected by the new arrangements.

The rationale given for the change is the high rate of unemployment and the Immigration Department was quick to point out that such dependant visa holders would not be subjected to a wholesale prohibition on working.

�Dependants would still be allowed to work if they meet the relevant eligibility criteria which apply to all overseas persons seeking to enter Hong Kong for employment� the Department have advised.

Translation � dependants accompanying their employment visa holding spouses who wish to work in Hong Kong will now have to apply for permission to take up a specific job, with a nominated employer on defined terms and conditions which are no less favourable than those offered to local candidates for that type of work. Moreover, the dependent will have to demonstrate to the HKID that they possess a special skill, knowledge or experience which are of value to and not readily available in Hong Kong � and the employer will have to show that they are justified in engaging the employment services of a foreign national employee as opposed to those of a local candidate.

It would appear that this prohibition on working also applies to �joining in a business� � although the announcement was strangely silent as to this. It seems likely that new dependant visa holders wishing to start their own business will now have to seek the consent of the Immigration Department before starting out on their new commercial ventures.

This new policy will not, however, apply to dependant visa holders sponsored by permanent residents whose working privileges will not be affected even after July 1.

The news is not all bad for newcomer dependants though - all dependant visa holders will be allowed to study without any express, additional visa permissions.

Other policy changes announced at the same time:

� There appears to be a new �Capital Investment Entrant� category of immigration status � although specific details have not as yet been released. This is expected to be the much discussed HK$6.5 million �investment for residence� program. The press release announcing the new policy changes was silent as to employment visas relating to �joining in a business in Hong Kong� (the existing investment visa category of employment visa) so there may be changes afoot in this area too. However, as there are currently only approximately 200 of such investment visas issued annually and these visas types invariably create job opportunities for local people, there is not expected to be significant change to the existing policy in so far as business investors go � except that the dependants of such newly granted investment visas will not have the automatic privilege of being able to work or to help out in the new business venture of their spouse.

� Mainland residents granted employment visas under the various special programs will now be allowed to bring in their dependants to accompany them during their period of residence in Hong Kong. This will also apply to Mainland residents who come to Hong Kong under student visas.

� Foreign national employment or student visa holders may sponsor only their spouses and unmarried children under the age of 18 as their dependants (down from 21 years). Parents are not now deemed �dependants� unless they are aged 60 or above and are joining their Hong Kong resident-sponsor family member as their �nearest or only surviving relative� and whose admission will be considered by the Immigration Department �on humanitarian or compassionate grounds.�

� Foreign national residents of Hong Kong with Mainland spouses will be disappointed to learn that there is to be no change in policy to allow their spouses to secure dependant visas, allowing them to join them in the HKSAR directly from the Mainland. These separated families will still have to first secure 12 months continuous residence for their spouse outside of China before applying for Hong Kong dependant visas in the normal way.

� Unconditional stay for dependant visa holders married to, or the children of, Permanent Identity Card Holders will now only be eligible for unconditional stay after 7 years continuous residence instead of the current three years. This is applicable across the board for all persons not eligible under the previous three year rule as at that July 1, 2003.

� Previous blanket restrictions on the entry of nationals or residents from certain countries and regions have been lifted. This applies to nationals of Bulgaria, Romania, Mongolia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and ex-Mainland residents in Macau.

The tightening up of these aspects of visa policy, the Immigration Department claim, are fully in line with international practice. There have been other subtle changes introduced via visa extension processes. Specific confirmations of job titles and emolument details are now called for as part of the standard employment visa extension procedures. Dependant visa extensions are also subject to a new element of consideration � a requirement that the sponsor spouse has been physically present in Hong Kong for at least 180 days in the preceding year. Absences beyond this time frame require detailed explanations and could impact on the viability of extension approvals.



www.emigra.com.hk

I hope this will help someone out there.

[once again]

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS ONLY MY UNDERSTANDING AND IS NOT TO BE TAKEN AS ANY AUTHORITY....and with that caveat over....

A person granted a work visa to take up employement in HK is allowed to bring his/her family (depending on meeting requirements) into HK. The person getting a work visa had to meet requirements -so in the end it was deemed unfair that their dependentant spouse could work without meeting any criteria. That explains your bold statement.The dependant visa was granted to someone coming into HK to work and bringing in family.

Of more importance to you is

This new policy will not, however, apply to dependant visa holders sponsored by permanent residents whose working privileges will not be affected even after July 1.


If your to be wife is a permanent resident..then you should be able to work. As I understand it, visa holder applies to people with conditions of stay. A permanent resident is not a visa holder. You really should check these things out with the immigration office and post what happened here. I think you will be ok, others here say you will not be able to work. PLEASE LET US KNOW WHAT THE ID say so we have an answer.

Congratulations and all the best for your marriage by the way.

[buddhaboyjp]

This is an update as of Tues the 19th.

Good news for us HK n00bs!

My fiancee has confirmed by telephone with the HK Human Resources Center, that `Dependant` Visa holders CAN work in HK without changing their Visa for the `Working Visa`.

Yeah! Hope you Gwailo`s don`t mind a Gaijin in your midst.
I shall be there for marriage on the 29th of July, and doing a Lamma honeymoon, then back to Japan to continue the honeymoon, and sometime in early 2007 will be there to pull back some 633mL bottles of beer with ya!

Cheers

[once again]

Congratulations on your good news and your upcoming marriage. Thanks for letting us know the outcome.

Could you just clarify a little though. Is that all dependant visa holders or just those sponsored by permanent residents?

[buddhaboyjp]