[PhilandLil]

Hi. I have just joined the forum and wonder if anyone can give me some information about getting a work permit for 1-2 years in Hong Kong. Everything I have read suggests it is increasingly difficult to get one. My husband has worked in architecture for 20 years and we would love to relocate to Hong Kong having visited recently and there are plenty of jobs advertised but do you apply for a job first and then a permit? What are the chances of successfully applying as a British citizen? I assume many of you have been through this and would really appreciate your help as there is limited information anywhere else.
Thanks
Leila

[jimbo]

Welcome Leila

The procedure is that you apply for the roles first and if successful then the company then has to apply for a work permit on behalf of your husband, The company needs to prove to immigration the reasons why they want to hire him over a local etc then after the documentation has been submitted then its a 4-6 week wait if the paperwork is in order.

[PhilandLil]

Brilliant! Thanks for that. Now we know where to start. I've found a few more threads along similar lines that are also helpful, it seems alot of people are in the same boat as us.
Thanks again
Leila

[vmlinuz]

Just to put it slightly differently - you and the company need to prove two things:

You need to prove that you are a skilled and qualified professional - i.e. not a burger-flipper, possibly/probably not a new grad, and ideally in a field for which there's demand in HK. Given that unemployment in Hong Kong is apparently at a 5-year low, I think most fields probably count as having demand at the moment...

The company needs to prove that they need to hire you, rather than an equivalently-skilled/experienced/qualified local. In essence this comes down to proving that they've tried to hire somebody locally and failed, therefore showing that they need to hire from abroad - in theory, at least, this goes to the level of showing copies of published recruitment ads and some sort of history of locals who've been considered and why they were unsuitable. I don't know how formal that sort of thing actually is...

As Jimbo said - the way it works is to find a job, then the company applies for a visa as your sponsor - it does mean a delay starting (assuming your company wants to do everything above board) and it does add an overhead for the company. I think the overhead is meant to be there, partly as an incentive to hire local staff. Also worth noting that it is not a visa to work in Hong Kong - it's a visa to work at a specific job - if you change jobs, you need a new visa.

Good luck