Please Help

Hi All, I am new here... I'll be very much obiliged if any of you can give any suggestion for this problem.. My flatmate is from india, he came to hong kong in Jan this year on a 2 month visa sponsored by his gf. Due to whatever reasons he couldn't leave hk before his visa expired. Afterwards he was too afraid to leave HK for the fear of punishment as he doesn't know anything about hk immigration rules. Now he is planning to get married with his gf who is a resident in hk. What he can do in this current situation? so far he managed to live in hk but do you guys think he'll have to show his immigration status at the time of marriage registration? if yes what is the possible things he can do? He hopes to go taiwan as he got family there. Is there any possible way for him to leave hk and come back? or he'll be blacklisted for few years if he goes to immigration authorities to turn himself in? I'll be grateful to anyone who can help him out in this unfortunate situation...

If he goes to the Immigration Department and turns himself in, so to speak, rather than get caught, he may be lucky and only just get a fine. He should go there with a ticket to leave HKG. Goal term for overstaying is not mandatory, it's discretionary. If he waits until he gets discovered, he will definitely be prosecuted and he may go to gaol. Though they will never admit it, the Immigration Department tend to treat causasians differently than, say, people from countries such as India, Pakistan, etc. Also, if he does get deported, he'll most certainly not be able to come back here again.


And by the way, if you want to get married in HKG, you need to register it with the Marriage Registry, which just so happens to be part of the Immigration Department. So I wouldn't take that route, if I were your friend.

Thanks all of you for your replies, so there's no hope for him?

Thanks gzhou for your suggestion, we are all humans and some of us do make mistakes. It's not necessary to be sacarastic about the problems of other people, anyway I appreciate your time and effort. Shoebell, if he does turn himself in, do you think he'll still be deported or will just have to pay the fine and leave?

It's really hard to say, but I suspect as he's been an overstayer eight months, he will more than likely get deported. Also, what has he been doing in HK all this time? Has he been working? If he has, that's another serious offence. His only option really is to buy himself a one-way ticket out of HKG, report himself to the Immigration Department, and hope that they will not choose to prosecute him. If for any reason he decides to stay and then gets caught, a prosecution will definitely be launched and the situation will be much worse for him.

Thanks once again shoebell, I know he is in trouble... he wasn't working in hkg. Poor thing just got lot of bad luck and lot of bad events happening in his life simultaneously. In case if he gets deported, for how long he'll have to wait to return hkg? any idea?

I cant advise on the particular case you have raised but I can give you informaiton (facts not supposition) of what happened about 9 months ago to an old helper of mine (from the Phillipines).


At the end of her contract she was fully paid up with return ticket to Philippines provided. However she decided not to go home. She went to stay with friends, worked several part time jobs in teh area she was living.


She was picked up by police / immigration in a club one night, taken to Lai Chi Kok detention centre. She had to appear in court and she was then remanded in custody until she could come up with the means to get herself home (rather than being incarserated for a fixed period for teh particular offence she had commited).


She was asked to provide name and contact details of any family or friends that could eb 'tapped' to provide the means of exit. I was then contacted by immigration and I feel was put ina position where I 'had' to help with a one way ticket - just my interpretation!


She was then put on the flight by immigration, her passport was chopped saying she could not return for a year.


Facts:

She was picked up - didnt voluntarily give herself up.

she was in Hong Kong 18 months over the end of her contract.

when she was given the one year ban she was advised it would be difficult to get employment here again, but if she could prove she could support herself she would probably be allowed in again as a tourist. (most people in this position ask for a new passport to be issued in their home country which seems to work for re-entry (after the prohibition period)


She was also advised that if she had presented herself at the airport with a valid ticket she would not have had to go the court route but would just have been allowed to leave with the one year chop in her passport.


I think the bottom line is your frind should be Ok, however remember every one is treated differently, however he wasnt working, it was a lesser length of time and he is voluntarily surrendering.


Police immigrations view seems to be get tehm out asap as why should the HK tax payer provide free board and lodging!


Hope this is of some help!

Thanks a lot maryland for your detailed reply. It helpls a lot, let's just hope he'll be treated more or less like that lady. It's a very frustrating and unfortunate situation, thanks to all of you once again for giving your valuable insights and suggestions. I appreciate it a lot. God bless...