[lilongyue]

Hi y'all,

I'm currently studying Mandarin Chinese in the Mainland, and plan to find work in Hong Kong as a translator when I'm finished. My wife is a Chinese national, and I'm wondering if she will have any problems getting a visa, should I get a job in HK. Has anyone else on this forum been through this before? I emailed HK immigration, but haven't heard back from them yet.

I've been to Hong Kong a few times and love it. I'm really want to relocate there when I finish my studies. I've already looked into working in Taiwan, but given the nature of the political relationship Taiwan has with the Mainland it would take an act of God to get a Taiwanese visa for my wife.

Thanks!

[lilongyue]

Just saw a few other threads started by people in the same situation, but they are all a few years old. Any of those people still in HK? How did the story end?

[jaykay]

If your wife is a Chinese national and had not taken any other citizenship then she will not be entitled to a dependent visa, but will be allowed visitors visas.

This is how it is even for people with permanent residency in HK. They normally have to wait for approximately 5 years before their wives are able to come and live with them in HK.

[mfc]

Originally Posted by jaykay

If your wife is a Chinese national and had not taken any other citizenship then she will not be entitled to a dependent visa, but will be allowed visitors visas.

This is how it is even for people with permanent residency in HK. They normally have to wait for approximately 5 years before their wives are able to come and live with them in HK.

Theres nothing here but shops anyway... if mainland china ends up like hong kong, i'm going to kill myself.

[Gatts]

Originally Posted by mfc

Theres nothing here but shops anyway... if mainland china ends up like hong kong, i'm going to kill myself.

Strange I would rather say it's the other way around. Ever been outside of central/kowloon?

[dezza]

jaykay: is it a rule that HK PRs' wives have to wait 5 years or is that how long the waiting list for immigration is? that sounds like a really long time...

thanks.

[carang]

that's the waiting list... unless of course you are high up in the gov't echelons....

[lilongyue]

Thanks for the info everyone.

So, if I understand this correctly, every three months my wife would have to go to Shenzhen, for example, to renew the dependent visa, right? Is it troublesome to get that visa renewed? Or after getting it the first time is the renewal just paperwork? Is there any chance that my wife wouldn't be let back into HK after the 1st, or even 10th renewal?

[jaykay]

No, she would only be allowed here on China issued visitors visa's, not a dependent visa. For those she would have to travel back to her home city to apply, going to SZ would not be an option. Remember for mainland citizens to enter HK they must apply for a visitor visa from their local city first, sometime this is single entry, sometimes double entry. In a few cases it can be multiple. Not all mainland cities issue these visa's.

As mentioned previously Permanent Residents of HK have had to wait 5 years before a dependent visa has been issued for their mainland spouses.

[lowlight]

Why don't you just stay in China? It's not like you're learning Cantonese anyway...