[hk_explorers]

Is their anything we can do, except for the usual cover letter and CV, or a process we (or companies) have to follow that may help us gain sponsorship from a company to live and work in Hong Kong? We are hoping to move in April.

And do we have to gain sponsorship before we apply for our visa's or can we apply and are then given a certain amount of time to find work before we enter Hong Kong?

Thanks in advance.

[HKFella]

You need to find an employer who is willing to sponsor you. Then technically your employer applies on your behalf. If the application is successful, you get an employment visa to work for that company. Otherwise you enter on a normal short-term tourist or visitor visa and look around for a sponsoring employer, and once you have found one, the process begins as above. You aren't entitled to work in the interim period.

HK Immigration needs to be satisfied about the bonafides of the employer and their justification for employing you, a foreigner, over locals in terms of unique skills, qualification, knowledge, experience, etc. needed for the job which they are unable to source in a practical manner locally. Check HK Immigration website for information and forums of this website for plenty of discussion on this subject.

[aventino]

Most un simple in all honesty if one of you is on a dependant visa. Hence most jobs ask for Hong Kong Residence or a foreigner with a work permit already. HK immigration are making it very difficult for anyone who arrived in the country after June 1 2003 to get work here. Usually, if an employer wants to take you over someone on a dependant visa issued prior to June 1 2003 they will be forced to wait 2-4 months before immigration will consider their application and rarely does an employer want to wait that long. If you are on a dependant visa issued after june 1 2003 you are basically a second class citizen.

But good luck anyway :-)

Is it worth foregoing the first 2 months pay to compensate the employer for the extra paperwork required with your sponsorship appliction?

It really depends on the position that you are being offered, the company that is offering you the position and your background if the case will be approved or not. It really does depend on the case itself and the way it is prepared for the immigration department. On average it takes around 4 weeks to process an employment visa and sometimes even earlier than that.

The date when the immigration law changed was the 1st July 2003.

[hk_explorers]

Thank you all for the responses. It looks like it wont be easy.We are compiling a list of companies we can apply for work with.

In my girlfriends case she will first try a transfer with her present company (she is an environmental consultant for an engineering co'). If this does not work I'm assuming due to her profession she should not have too much problem gaining sponsorship?

On the other hand my background is web design and I currently work freelance as a web communications consultant so are we right to assume that it is most likely I will have difficulty finding sponsorship and so may have to enter with a british passport and then try and find work by explaining I live here with someone who is sponsored?

We do have a friend who owns a co. in Hong Kong and has said that they are willing to be my silent business partner to help me get a visa but do I then not have to invest a certain amount of money? I have also been told freelance designers/developers/consultants are not in demand in HKG?

Excuse me if this is long, we really do have lots of questions.

[aventino]

HK Explorers it is getting increasingly difficult and having had a brief chat with immigration last week I can now understand the intense pressure being applied upon them to approve as few sponsorships as possible. There is unemployment in HKG so why should you put a local out of work? Have a look at how many adds in the classifieds ask specifically for someone with the right to work in HKG already, most companies these days won't even bother trying to get sponsorship through immigration, it has got that difficult.

[hk_explorers]

Originally Posted by aventino

HK Explorers it is getting increasingly difficult and having had a brief chat with immigration last week I can now understand the intense pressure being applied upon them to approve as few sponsorships as possible. There is unemployment in HKG so why should you put a local out of work? Have a look at how many adds in the classifieds ask specifically for someone with the right to work in HKG already, most companies these days won't even bother trying to get sponsorship through immigration, it has got that difficult.

Thanks, we understand that it is difficult and the reason for this difficulty. It is good to hear someone say that it might not happen, so that we can make other plans if neccessary. This is something we have set our hearts on doing and hopefully we will be successful. If not then at least we have tried. If we do not leave for Hong Kong, it will be another place...but Hong Kong has always been the first choice and the most interesting place we have ever been to.