[tharani]

I have a couple of related questions:

My family (wife & kids) is out of HK now and while they are away, their dependent visa has expired. I understand that their visas cannot be renewed until they are in HK physically and that they have to get in with a visitor visa. My question is can they just land hoping to get a visitor visa on arrival (they are normally eligible to get a 15 day visa on arrival).

Second, we need to get a new dependent visa for our infant baby. It is being processed but it appears it might take several weeks more than we can wait for (the family needs to be back before school starts here). In this case, can the baby also enter to get a visitor visa on arrival just like the others? Do I have to notify the Immigration Dept in advance if we can do this and choose to? Do I have to, then, take the baby to Macau and back to complete the process?

Somebody with any experience such as this, pls advice!

Thanks - RS

[KnowItAll]

>> My question is can they just land hoping to get a visitor visa on arrival (they are normally eligible to get a 15 day visa on arrival).

Absolutely, if they have an ID card (which I'd assume they do if they've been living in Hong Kong) they should not have a problem with getting a visitor visa.

>> new dependent visa for our infant baby

Born in Hong Kong?

[tharani]

Thanks. Yes, my wife does have an ID card, but the kid's not old enough to have one.

>> Born in Hong Kong?

No. Out of HK and this will be the first trip in for the 3 month-old. We have applied for the visa with all supporting docs but it just looks like we may not get the visa until well into Sept.

[KnowItAll]

I'd get them into HK on a visitor visa and then pay immigration a visit in person. They'll sort it out for you, for sure.

[eva]

hi,
I have a similar problem at the moment, im applying for an dependent visa for my husband. and the immigration department told me that it is not normally allowed to change a visitor visa to a dependent visa.
the problem is , our flight to hk is on the 23rd of august , and it seems like now the Immigration Departement will take longer to process his visa.
will this be a big problem?
thanks for your help.

[Indi_glow]

I faced a similar situation last year but in the end it proved to be no hassle. My family got their dependant visa within a week upon arrival. But I'm not too sure if this turns out to be a problem when I apply for their permanent ID next year.

[tharani]

The standard processing time for new dependent visas are 6 weeks, while employment visas take 4 weeks, and this is after about 2-3 weeks from the initial application. In all, this looks to take nearly 2 months.

Does anyone have recent experience on how close to the standard timeframe they actually take?