dependent visa in HK

I am a mainland China girl, and now living in Guangzhou. My husband is a German working in Hongkong with a working visa. Is it possible that I can apply for a dependent visa to live together with him?

Unfortunately, no. You have to leave China, live in another country for a minimum of two years, then apply to come to HKG as a dependant of your husband.

I know several mainland holders of dependent visa. As far as I know, there are no extra restrictions on mainland spouses of HK employment visa holder. People on this board sometimes say there are additional requirements, but I could not find language of extra requirement in the HK Immigration website. The passages I did find say it is perfectly fine. See below


Entry of Dependants


24. For sponsors who have been admitted into Hong Kong to take up employment (as a professional, investor or for training) or full-time studies in undergraduate or post-graduate programmes in locally degree-awarding institutions, or as entrants under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme or the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, their spouses and unmarried dependent children under the age of 18 may apply for entry for residence in Hong Kong as dependants. Dependants of persons who have been admitted into Hong Kong to study are prohibited from taking up employment in Hong Kong unless they have obtained permission from the Director of Immigration.





25.Applications in respect of dependants may be submitted together with those of the sponsors or after the arrival of the sponsors. If applications are submitted together with those of the sponsors, dependants of persons admitted for employment as professionals should complete Part B of ID 990A and dependants of persons admitted for training should complete Part B of ID 992A. If applications are submitted after the arrival of sponsors, dependants of persons admitted for employment under the 'Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals' should complete application form ID(C) 962 (Chinese version) or ID(E) 962 (English version). Other dependants should complete application form ID(C) 936 (Chinese version) or ID(E) 936 (English version). Other than sponsors' spouse and unmarried dependent children under the age of 18, applications from other dependants are not allowed. Please refer to details about the Immigration policy on Entry of Dependants.


http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/hkvisas_9.htm#entry_of_residence


I am by no means an expert on this subject. If anyone knows for sure, please share the relevant legal requirement.

What I said above is correct: people from the mainland can only come to HKG on study visas, not dependant visas. To be eligible as a dependant, they have to leave China, live in another country for a period of not less than 2 years, then apply for a dependant visa afterwards. I suppose it's because the HKG governemnt is worried that with a population of 1.4 billion, a lot of mainlanders will have bogus and sham marriages just to gain entry into HKG.


THis is from the Immigration Department's policy on dependants which is on their website:


"(d) whilst the policy excluding Mainland residents from entering Hong Kong as dependants should be continued, such an exclusion should not apply where the sponsors have been admitted into Hong Kong to take up employment or full-time tertiary study under schemes or arrangements catering for Mainland residents. Furthermore, the present prohibition precluding such sponsors to bring in their overseas dependants, where any, should be discontinued"

Going over the lines from the passages I and Shoe Girl found, it appears there is no restriction for Mainland dependents of holder of employment visa. The passage Shoe Girl found says: such an exclusion should NOT apply where sponsors have been admitted into HK to take up employment...

the passage I found also says spouse and children under 18 can apply for dependent visa if the sponsor is admitted for employment. It even identifies the application form to submit, ID 990A

I am not a lawyer, but my best guess from reading both passages is that mainland spouse of an employment visa holder can apply for dependent visa.

The restriction Shoe Girl mentioned seem to apply to spouse of HK permanent residents wishing to immigrate to HK. In those cases, the mainland spouse need to apply for the "one way" pass to HK. That is a different status, not dependent visa. Holders of "one way" pass can get on HK welfare the instant they arrive in HK, (and many do) whereas dependents of employment visa holders cannot.

Thanks a lot Oski and Shoe Girl for the useful information. We need to call the Immigration Dept. of Hk to ask in detail and keep you posted. :-)