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Permanent Residence Application

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ORIGINAL POST
Posted by TheBeagleO 4 mths ago
Hello,

I am a few months away from my 7 years to be able to apply for HK PR.

If it is said it takes 6 weeks to process…how far in advance can I start applying?

If I can start the paperwork in advance, do I date it at the 7 year mark / when my visa expires? If I did this online, the system will not except dates in the future. On hard copies I have to sign that I have been in HK for the 7 years (which technically I am still 2 months shy of)

Do I have to leave HK once my current visa expires and I don’t have PR yet? As in like a visa run to activate "tourist" visa?

Thanks in advance for the info. I did online searches, but seen conflicting or many years old.

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COMMENTS
friendlyhongkonger 4 mths ago
In my case, I submitted my PR application at least a month before I completed my 7th year. That was back in 2014. And I know someone who did the same and there was no issue. You can try to submit a month before. usually by the time they get back to you, a month has already passed and you would have already completed the 7 years by the time they approve your application. The officer will advise you anyway if you should wait until after the 7th year. Just follow their advice. But if you want to save yourself the trouble and your visa has not yet expired then just submit your application after you have completed the 7- year requirement.

When is your visa expiring anyway?

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TheBeagleO 4 mths ago
Thanks FriendlyHongKonger for your experience. 1 month seems to be the consensus on how far in advance to apply.

My (dependent) visa expires on the day I reach my 7 years....so not sure what is the process when it ends....do I need to leave HK? Come back as a tourist?

I missed my 4 year renewal by 3 weeks and had to write a "I'm sorry" (literally) letter to Immigration and so trying to avoid any troubles this last time.

Thanks again

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friendlyhongkonger 4 mths ago
Hmm in this case, maybe you would consider getting an extension on your visa first..you'll have peace of mind and you won't feel like you're running out of time. Then you can just apply for the PR application.

Just to be sure you don't lose your resident status and go back to holding a tourist visa. What if they give you a hard time when this happens?

When I applied for my PR back then, I remember that my dependant visa was still far from expiring so I didn't have this extra stress to deal with.

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TheBeagleO 14 days ago

Update to what really happened:



I applied ~1.5 months in advance of my 7 years and got a rejection letter for PR status.  (Too early to apply)



So I applied at the stroke of midnight of my 7 year anniversary....where it was kept in "processing" status.



I had to travel 3 days after my 7 year mark and was stopped at outgoing Immigration for expired Visa and had to pay a fine (~300 HKD cash) and had to write another "I'm sorry" letter.  They did not or could not check in the system if my PR application was being processed or not.



I had to come back from my trip as a "tourist", and a month or so go my acceptance letter.



In hind sight: I shouldve made a Visa run and come back as a tourist to wait out the processing time. 


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