Renewing son's dependent visa

Hi everyone,



My son's will be renewing his dependent visa for the second time this coming 2013. Currently, he's in Canada attending kindergarten. My question is:



1. Will he be given another extension of stay as he is not in HK at the moment?

2. Will he be eligible for ROA after renewing dependent visa until he reaches 11 yrs old?

3. Must he be in HK for 7 continuous years to be able to be eligible for ROA?

3. Will he be consider an ordinary resident of HK as he is in Canada for the purpose of his education?



I hope you can shed some light into this.



Thank you very much.



Alvyn

Your son would need to be in Hong Kong (as well as the applicant) in order to renew his dependent visa. Furthermore, your son would need to continuously reside in Hong Kong for 7 years in order to apply for ROA.

He's not in HK, so he doesn't need a visa. But for the purpose of acquiring ROA looking forward, the dependent visa must not lapse. You therefore need to bring him back to HK to renew his visa.


The Immigration Department can consider somebody as "ordinarily" residing in HK even if he's outside of HK most of the time if he can prove that his residence is really Hong Kong. Your son's situation (i.e. studying in Canada) an be such a case. But as they say, each case will be evaluated on a case-to-case basis. Coming home annually regularly can prove that HK is his home, and CAnada is just where he's studying.


To me, the most important thing for you to do is not let the dependent visa lapse, as that is proof he's not "ordinarily residing" in HK.