Job Discussion Forums

Rooster_2006 · Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 984

No flames, please, I'm not really serious about this, just wondering if anyone has ever tried this wacky, financially inefficient idea:

- Get a job in Shenzhen or another part of Guangdong that is really close to Hong Kong.
- Rent a small room in Hong Kong.
- Sleep in Hong Kong, but work in Shenzhen.

This way, you could live in Hong Kong and support yourself without a degree! You wouldn't be breaking Hong Kong's rules because you wouldn't be working there. You'd just be sleeping there. You would have a valid Z visa for work in Shenzhen, however, so that would be legal, too.

I don't see any legal reason why there'd be a problem, the only thing I can think of is a problem in crossing the border two times a day.

Before any of you reminds me, I know this is a huge waste of money (since rent is bound to be much cheaper in Shenzhen), but can we just pretend?

Would I need to buy a new passport every two weeks because it would fill up with stamps?

North China Laowei · Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 419

Rooster_2006 · Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 984

I'm analyzing my passport right now. My most populated page has six stamps.

So every day I taught in Shenzhen, that'd be four stamps (one exit from Hong Kong, one entry into Shenzhen, one exit from Shenzhen, and one entry into Hong Kong). So that means one page only lasts 1.5 days.

My passport only has 21 usable pages. Sure I can extend this, but not by much. So does that mean I would need to obtain a new passport every 31.5 working days?

How do Hong Kong businessmen who work in Shenzhen cope? Do they simply get new passports every couple of months, or is there a special system in place for them?

North China Laowei · Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 419

jwbhomer · Joined: 14 Dec 2003 Posts: 876 Location: CANADA

OP, your idea may be feasible, but I can't imagine why you would want to do this. You can rent a decent-sized apartment in SZ more cheaply than a small room in HKG, and SZ has all the amenities you would find in HKG, and then some. That's assuming you don't care so much about freedom of speech!

It occurs to me that your idea may be to avoid the necessity of getting a Z visa and residence permit, so that you can work on an F visa. To me that seems penny-wise and pound-foolish.

I'd recommend making SZ "home" and visiting HKG when you feel the need.

Rooster_2006 · Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 984

loboman · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:29 pm Post subject:

To answer a question, those who enter HongKong everyday or China every day and then go home at the end of the day get a special card that allows them to travel back and forth using a special ine and they don't get their passport stamped.

As a USA citizen you can stay in Hongkong for 90 days and that goes back to zero when you leave and enter.

Having passed through the Shenzhen border several times i can say it would get old very quick, the waiting in line - sometimes very long lines - 4 or 5 times a week.

But many people do it, work in Hongkong and go home to cheaper Shenzhen everyday.

I would think it would be a nasty commute as once you cross the border you still have to commute to the Island which can take another hour of packed trains.

Plus, it gets expensive.

Song&Dance · Joined: 04 Jul 2008 Posts: 176

NOT so wacky if you have a GF in Hong Kong and for valid reasons she can't or won't move to Shenzhen.

foreignDevil · Joined: 23 Jun 2003 Posts: 580

I'm sorry, but this just plain won't work. The vast majority of people who commute either way across the border either:

1) live in mainland China (with lower cost of living) and work in HK or Macau (with higher salary)

or

2) are HK/Macau business people who live in HK/Macau but commute to the mainland to take care of varied business interests such as factories, etc. These people are not commuting to ESL jobs. Incidentally, many of these people drive across the border, as their BMWs, Benzes, and Humvees have dual plates. They are not lining up and standing for an hour in the passport line.

The near-impossibility of this aside... as another poster mentioned, the commute everyday would grow very old, very quickly. I assume you have actually crossed the border to HK or Macau at some point, so you must know that it is truly a living hell. How can you possibly contemplate doing this 4,5,6 times a week, twice a day? It drains my soul doing it once a month.

foreigndevil

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

eddy-cool · Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 1008

Of course, it's 'legal' but it's also moronic as you have come to realise yourself. In time the HK Immigration folks would become suspicious about a laowai travelling in the 'wrong' direction during rush hours to cross the border...

Those that do it regularly have HK ID cards. That saves time and passport pages, and makes you less conspicuous at the border.