[alejandro]

Hello all:

I came to HK to take up a masters course in a finance related field starting from september, and I'm already here in order to join some chinese language course and get all settled in the country. My university will be sponsoring me for the student visa which I'm hoping to get in the upcoming months.

My question is, is it at least slightly easier to land a job while on a student visa? is there a lot of bureaucratic hassle when changing the student status to worker? I'm a native spanish speaker from Spain and I'm also perfectly fluent in english and japanese since I got my BA in Japanese and Management at the University of London.

Well, I hope someone can give me some tips on where to start looking once I get a student visa, and what sort of market demand there might be for my qualifications.
By the way I was quite shocked to find that HK doesn't allow student visa holders to take up part time work!

thank you!

EDIT: I just realised part of this thread probably should be at the "Immigratiion and Visas" forum, sorry If the administrators consider it should be moved then please do so.

[geo-seb]

Originally Posted by alejandro

Hello all:
My question is, is it at least slightly easier to land a job while on a student visa? is there a lot of bureaucratic hassle when changing the student status to worker?

It is easier to find a job while you a physically in Hong Kong, but the immigration department gives people who try to change from student to work status a very hard time. Officially they claim it is not possible at all, but if you find a company who is seriously willing to sponsor you (and go through the hassle of proving why they could not find a local person to fill the position they are offering you), and your immigration officer is in a good mood, then your visa is likely to be approved eventually.

A friend of mine filed such an application was contacted by an immigration officer who recommended to withdraw the application to avoid having it rejected. (If your visa application is rejected once, there will be a "black spot" in your records that makes further visa applications even more difficult). My friend decided to take the risk and was persistent (in a friendly way), and after around 4 months he got his work visa.