Transfer of my Visa to own business

I'm a Canadian currently in HK for 3 years under an employment visa from my company who brought me here. I decided I hate doing what I'm doing for them and can make a hell of a lot more doing it for myself. Here are my questions -


1. I want to setup and register a Limited consulting company then try and have my visa transferred from my employer to my own company. I don't know if that's possible according to immigration dept and am a bit afraid to ask


2. I would register the company with a virtual office address service and work from there as needed but would be on the road through Asia anyway.


3. Can I do this and still stay in HKG, quit my job and finish out my 7 years for permanent residency? Something I'd really like to do since this is a wonderful place (rare thing to hear these days).


I might even ask my employer or some of my customers to hire me back as a consultant which they may consider doing.


Thanks for any advice or PM me if you need more info. Would pay for a service to handle this for me incl immigration if it was reasonable and legit.

You can't transfer your visa, you must apply for a new one, as you will be changing your status from employment visa to business visa. It's not as easy as it sounds, and you need to have plenty of money. You will have to set up a company and then provide the immigration department with BR certificates, Certificate of Incorporaiton, Memorandum of Articles of Association, etc, etc. But most importantly, you have to satisfy the Immigration Department that your business venture will be beneficial to the economy of HKG, meaning in relation to the employment of local staff.

Thanks for replying. Nothing worth having ever came easy or cheap. You sound like you're speaking from experience so wonder if you can clarify a few points from your message:


- when you say 'have a lot of money' are you referring to the setup cost (thought that was pretty low in the $10-20K range). OR do you mean I need to inject a minimum investment into the business required by immigration?


- realize I would need the docs you mentioned plus a solid biz plan with few years projection. Wonder if I could show gradual employment of local HKG staff vs. the need to hire people immediately


- Pretty sure I can structure a biz plan which would satisfy HKG economic benefit and needs (let's assume so), wonder how I would have to show income capability (might take me a year to get things off the ground with enough clients or consulting projects to warrant hiring others).


Thanks again.

I am not referring to set up costs, but the costs of investing into the business. You will not see it anywhere in black and white from the Imm Dep, but you need at least a couple of million HK dollars. Also, the sort of business you're thinking of going into can make a difference. The Imm Department can refuse your application if they feel that there are already enough businesses in HKG providing the same service. So that is also a factor. You can show gradual employment of local staff, but your business plan has to be solid enough to show that the employment of local staff is realistic. Basically, they're not going to give you a visa so you can make lots of money in HKG; they will give you a visa if you can show that your business will help the economy of HKG.


If you have sufficient capital, another possible way would be to get a Capital Investment Visa. But you need HK$6.5 million to be eligible for that.


If you have other queries, can you send me an email and I can discuss this further with you.

Dear Beancurd and Shoe Girl,

thanks a lot for your replies and information. Its very helpful and has provided some clarity and perspective on some key points.


I'm going to give this some deep thought over the weekend and then I might have more questions so I may drop you both an email. Cheers.