[keechin]

Good day to all,

Just found out from the HK immigration homepage that there are two types of HK ID.

1. HK permanent ID
2. HK ID

Q1: I will able to apply the HK ID when my employment visa has approved?

Q2: I will able to apply the HK Permanent ID after 7 years stay in HK? I needs to give up my singapore citizenship?

Q3: What the different for me (singaporean) if i stay in HK with HK ID and HK permanent ID? like buying a house, paying a school fee for my child, medical fee and etc?

Your advise is much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[KnowItAll]

On approval of any sort of long term visa (dependant, education, investment, employment) you have to apply for a HK ID.

You can get a permanent ID after 7 years. It is not a citizenship, just the right of abode so you don't have to give up your citizenship.

Not much difference ... some banks have a permanent ID requirement for credit cards and home loans, most banks do not.

[keechin]

May I know only i get the permanent HK ID then company or i can consider myself as "local"?

[NEERAJ]

LIKE KIA said; u cant consider ureself a CITIZEN(if thats what u mean by local) its just a right to live in the country..
u can give up ure S'pore passport and apply for a HK citizenship,thats another issue.

[HKFella]

Originally Posted by keechin

Q3: What the different for me (singaporean) if i stay in HK with HK ID and HK permanent ID? like buying a house, paying a school fee for my child, medical fee and etc?

Not much in that regard (except what KIA said). Basically you will no longer need to renew periodically your visa for residence in HK. E.g., if previously on employment visa, you will find you can change employers, run your own business, or stick around without a visa, go elsewhere to try your luck, and return to HK to try it out again, etc etc - all without having the spectre of HK Immigration visas and rules constraining your decisions. You keep your foreign citizenship (you'd suddenly find yourself stateless if upon getting HK PR status you were to up and surrender your SG citizenship).

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by keechin

May I know only i get the permanent HK ID then company or i can consider myself as "local"?

Whether you are employed on "local" or "expat" terms is purely a commercial negotiation between you and your employer. It is certainly harder to claim expat terms if you are a Permanent Resident, but not impossible (although there have been suggestions from the Government recently of restricting what "expat" packages can be offered to Permanent Residents - this is still a long way from being law).

[HKFella]

Originally Posted by PDLM

Whether you are employed on "local" or "expat" terms is purely a commercial negotiation between you and your employer. It is certainly harder to claim expat terms if you are a Permanent Resident, but not impossible (although there have been suggestions from the Government recently of restricting what "expat" packages can be offered to Permanent Residents - this is still a long way from being law).

RE the bit in parentheses, glad you think so. Why do you think they even came up with this idea - what does PR and expat allowances have to do with anti-racial discrimination legislation? Does anyone else think it was government's way of sticking it to the same foreigners who'd been vocal in pushing them for anti-racism legislation?

[PDLM]

Well apart from anything else, it isn't racial discrimination. There are many racially Chinese people on expat packages...

I tend to agree with your last point as a possibility. But the whole argument is daft anyway because the Government is saying that the companies will have to justify the payment of bigger packages and show why they can't get people on "local" packages to do the same job. They seem to have failed to notice that in order for the person to get an Employment Visa at all the Immigration Department has to be convinced of just that!