Bringing DH from Singapore

We want to bring our DH from Singapore to HK. She is from Indonesia. When we move I will be 6/7 months pregnant and we have 2 energetic dogs to take care of. It would be preferable for her to come direct from Singapore.


It states in the HK Government guidelines that she should come from her place of 'origin' - I presume they mean Indonesia? How easy will it be for her to come straight to HK from Sing and then process the paperwork required for her to have a visa in HK?


If she arrives in HK with no visa how long will her visitor status be in HK, ie, what will be stamped in her passport?


I've read on this site that they may be clamping down on people popping over to Macau for a Visa fix. Is that in effect yet?


We know where we will live and both myself and my partner are both Permanent ID card holders if that helps at all.

I am fairly sure she will not be able to come straight to HK and process here. In any case if she is here on a visitor visa, it is illegal for her to work. If she says she will stay with you, I think her visitor visa will be denied because it is fairly obvious she will work. Basically she will have to go back to Indonesia and process from there.


They are indeed already clamping down on the popping to Macau.


The fact that you know where you live and have permanent IDs helps, but only in so much as you can start processing immediately.

There's also the issue of stay times. You cannot start processing until you are in HK. Processing takes 3-6 weeks, during which time she cannot stay in HK (except a short period on a tourist visa). Also, she cannot stay in Singapore more than 7 days after you have terminated her employment.


Since you cannot be in two places at once, she must return to Indonesia or be in violation of visa either in HK or Singapore.

Just to let you have an update!


I went to HK immigration to clarify some of the points raised above. We can complete the paperwork in Singapore then send the contract to HK immigration. However the contract also needs to be signed by the Indonesian Consulate (in Indonesia) who OFTEN (so not always) declare that an agency are also required to sign the paperwork. Hence we are pretty much in the hands of an agency who charge $6,000 to process the paperwork for us.


However the helper is not required to return to Indonesia and can transfer directly to HK once her visa is approved for HK.


I'll keep you updated on how it all goes!

Above mentioned are techncal checks. You must ceck her morality, as Singapreans are notoriously mean, rude to DH, many DH copy their bad behaviour, which you may be taken on. I lived there before, strongly discourage hiring maids from Singapore. Most Singapreans treat them like slaves. i recommend you to hire in HKG, it's less complicated, prevent unknown crazy problems in the future. You need someone who knows Hong Kong. Singaporeans' best past time is arguing, DH there are too. Pls hire someone who can help you, not you spend your precious time watching, teaching, looking after their bad emotions & misbehaviors. pls take this advice.

Excuse me kyeong ae, as far as I know, HK DH have an attitude that I don't see in DH in Singapore. Be they Indonesian, Phillipinos, Sri Lankans or others (though I am not able to say for the others). They are picky too - like "Oh, I prefer to work for a caucasian". They are not very good employers and not very good DHs, whatever their nationality, colour or creed. There are more than enough laws to protect DH but not enough to protect employers.


How often have we read in various threads, the 'abuses' we have to take from the DH. We do treat them well but because the law allows them to break contract and yet get a passage home by giving just a month's notice etc, what do you do or can do? I know a number of DHs who have no trouble breaking contracts getting a trip home and returning again. Meanwhile, as a working person who has been given a month's notice by the DH, you will have to start looking for another DH. Time and money is spent. Before the new DH comes, you need to hire a part time helper and re-arrange your schedule etc. If you are lucky, the new DH stays for 2 years, if not, the whole scenarios starts again. As with many others, it is less stressful if we have no DH but we need to work. Maybe, we have just been unlucky.

I would like to add, kyeong ae, did you even bother to read the original message?


Cheeky wants to bring her Indonesian made from Singapore to HK. This means they have had that helper working with them, and are obviously very happy with her, so they want her to come to Hong Kong with them. It's not an issue of Cheeky simply wanting to hire any random helper from Singapore.