Moving

Posted by lynseydalladay (464 days ago)

Hi,
My partner has been headhunted for a career in HK and is moving in June. I am of 2 minds as to whether to join him or not. Would appreciate advice on positive/negatives of living in HK. I want to go with him cos I love him but am worried I wont be able to get a job & he wont be able to support me. I just can't find a way through the fog. Any help would be appreciated.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Justin Credible (Part Deux) (463 days ago)

Hmm...

If he wont be earning enough money to support the two of you, I would think long and hard. It may take time for you to get a job depending on what your specialization is. What kinda job will you be looking for?

How strong is your relationship? If you are certain it is rock solid and that he worships the ground you walk on, then its worth a shot :o) Uprooting your entire life for something that is just "OK" isnt quite a good start.

I'm being honest here...I know a lot of women that followed their bf's here or men who followed their gf's here and its ended in tears because they couldnt get a job and the pressure eventually got to them. Its not like you are married so you wont get a dependent visa...you would end up with a visitor visa or something and you would need a company to sponsor you for a job. Which is why I asked, what do you do? Depending on the job, it would be clearer what your chances are.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Woz's Pup (463 days ago)

Hi Lynsey,

My boyfriend moved to HK from England, and I was worried too. The last thing we want is to be a burden, I know! If you can get yourself a TEFL qualification before you come out here, you can always fall on teaching English. There's lots of schools desperate out here for native English speakers.

There's also jobsdb.com which is a job searching website. I found a couple good jobs through that.

On a visa note, it can take a while. Mine took 6 months to come through. If you're married, you might be able to apply for a dependant visa, but I'm not sure on the specifics of that as I'm not married... yet! Hehe. If you apply for a seperate work visa to your partner, you need to get a job that's going to pay you more than $15,000 hkd a month, else you won't get your visa. A friend of mine got rejected for his visa for just that reason.

But I think jobs db is really good. Don't do the quick apply thing, email the addresses in the adds. Sometimes they take a while to reply, one took two months to get back to me! Best thing is to save up a bunch of cash and live off that till you can get a job. But there are loads of English teaching centres where you can work part time, full time, or whatever you want. They're very flexible.

As a woman who followed her man to the other side of the world, one other piece of advice I'd say, is make lots of friends away from your partner. I love my bloke very much, but if I had to spend all my time with him, I'd go nuts! On Wednesdays, in a district called Wan Chai, there's ladies night, where it's free drinks for girls. That's my weekly outing with my friends away from my boyfriend.

Sorry, I've gone on a bit, but because I've done it and now my fella and I are very happy together, and I have quite a good job with a good salary, I think it's all good and it can happen for you too!

(I am based in Hong Kong)