Posted by
MarathonHK
16 yrs ago
Hello, I have been in HK for 3 years on a working visa. My job will end in a few months, and my visa expires a few weeks later. I would really like to stay in HK and find a new job here, unfortunately, due to the current financial crisis, this could take some time.
I have been told that the current visa rules are abit more relaxed than usual.. meaning that you can still live in HK, and just need to leave HK for a day every 3 months. Can anyone confirm this..
Also, if you dont work for a year.. This year obviously cant be counted in the 7 years required to become a permanent resident. However, will you have to start the 7 year count from 0 when your new work visa starts, or will the previous working years be counted?
Thanks for your help.
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If you remain on a visiting visa for 6 months or longer you will need to start your 7 years again.
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bing2
16 yrs ago
better check with the immigration directly.
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selda
16 yrs ago
when your work visa expires, you do a visa run to Shenzhen, or Zhuhai, or anywhere near, and come back the next day. You will get a 3 months valid tourist visa. Don't discuss this with immigration department!
You repeat this a couple of days before your tourist visa expires, which means every three months. Try and change the destination of your visa run, go on holiday etc.
I have friends who have been doing it for years.
By the way, if you have proof of address in HK (keep your bills, tenancy agreements, bank statements etc) even the period covered by your tourist visa is regarded as valid towards your permanent visa. You do not need to start from scratch, unless you leave HK for more than 6 months.
I am a permanent resident, but the first year in HK i was on a tourist visa.
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Thanks for your answer.. A friend of mine told me the same thing about keeping bank statements etc... However someone else told me there is no way this will work..
I ll just have to check it out with the Immigration as there seems to be no clear rule.
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P888
16 yrs ago
Hi
You can go to Shenzhen or Macau and get a three month stamp in your passport. I did this forwell over a year and was not questioned by Immigration. If you are stopped you can say that you like Hong Kong and are just hanging out.
To apply for your permanent residency, the only thing that they asked me for was proof that I had paid my tax. It helps to keep bills and banks statments but immigration did not ask me for that. If you leave HK for more than 6 months, then this could be a problem.
Good luck.
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Once your job ends don't try and come into HK on your I/D card. They will detain you for 20 minutes and take it away.
If you at the end of your visa you go and do a "visa" run - immigration will eventually give you a visa for one week and thats that. You should leave HK every month - then you will have no issues with immigration.
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Thread hijack...
Immigration told me that I could continue working on the back of my dependant permit so long as that permit was in force and if my wife lost her work permit job that would not affect matters. The above comments suggest my wife would lose her ID card if we went away for a weekend in the period between her losing her job and her work permit expiring. This does seem to clash a little with the advice I'd been given - unless I get to keep my ID card and it's just my wife that would lose hers.
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A few comments seem to contradict what I have been told as well.. It seems that immigration is more souple than usual in these times, so usual rules are not applied at the moment.
A friend of mine lost his job a few months ago, and his compagny immediately suspended the sponsorship. Immigration told him he could still go in and out on his ID Card before his work visa expired, even though he no longer had a job or a sponsor.
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Your HK ID will keep on working whether it is permanent ID or not permanent ID till it expires I guess. With a non-permanent ID, you will need your passport as well to travel. I know people who use to work in HK and have left HK for years, but still have their HK ID card and it works, except they cannot work as they do not have sponsorship.
For your permanent Hong Kong ID card, it is about living here for 7 years not working. If you leave HK, then it cannot be longer then 6 month.
During SARS, I did not work for about 6 months, but was mostly in HK (I had to wait about 2 months for my new work visa once I had my new job). Once I started a new job, I continued my counting and I have my permanent ID card now. It was an easy process.
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i think one of the comments by greenvalley was a bit confusing...you can come and go as often as you like during the duration of your employment visa . once your employment visa has expired, if you leave and re-enter AT THAT TIME, you will be re-entering on a visitor visa...immigration has no way of knowing if you are working or not, they are looking at the date on your visa, so having a job or not is irrelevant to them....henders is right as well, if you try to re-enter after your visa has expired, they will retain your card and begin treating you as a visitor (you could possibly go through e-channel though...)
Marathon, your friend is typical...the company should immediately notify Immd that their sponsorship is ending, but the visa is valid for its duration...not a new policy at all..
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acutally this is not true, as this situation has happened to me (not recently, but 4 years ago) and I specifically asked at Immigration in Wanchai what my status would be. I was assured that my work visa was valid until the date printed on it, regardless of the number of times I entered/exited HK...i then found a sponsor before my visa expired, had the remainder of the visa duration transferred to their sponsorship, and when those few months were finished, was granted a new employment visa as per usual...the issue NEVER came up at immigration control in Lo Wu or the airport
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