[turnjet]

My background... I hold a British passport and graduated at uni back home in England this year. I moved to HK with my HK g/f who lived with me in England for three years (HK resident) and graduated in the same year as me. I'm currently staying with her in an apartment her mum owns, so i count myself very lucky. I have six months stay here and i've been here since the 20th of September this year.

Okay, so i've applied for a few jobs and recently took a few insurance papers. I get the results soon and if i pass them, the company concerned will help me get a work permit, namely due to specialising in the english speaking residents in HK. It sounds great, but i'm wondering if there is any legality involved that i should consider. The company, Prudential, are well known and i've got no hesitiation that they'll stand by their word, but i just want to make extra sure it's a simple as that.

If on the other hand i don't get the job and my stay here gets near the six month mark, would marriage be a viable option. Me and my g/f have talked about it and realise that if we do choose to stay in HK, a quick marriage could be feasible if the traditional mother and law agree.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[PDLM]

Getting married takes away the big worry of "will I get an Employment Visa" which is a significant issue if you are not in a senior / specialised role. It also makes you more attractive to potential employers.

Having said that, if Prudential says they think they can get you an Employment Visa then I, like you, assume they are a company to trust. You'd still be tied in to working for them though. With a Dependant Visa you could easily move on any time a better looking job came along.

Gather and keep as much evidence as you can of your relationship with your g/f in the UK (any joint tenancy agreements, bank accounts, photos, whatever). This will make the Dependant Visa process go much more smoothly.

[turnjet]

Hey PDLM, thanks for the quick and informative reply.

Yeah, we've had a joint account with HSBC back in England for over two years now, as well as various seperate phone bills and the like to the same address. I also read in another thread (semUK's comments) on here that I could get a dependant visa without getting married. Is there any truth to this?

Taking away the worry of a visa would be great, even if i'm not 100% sure if I want to stay in HK yet. ( 99% sure though )

[PDLM]

Well as I said there, he is the first person ever to report this. So either there is some truth in it or he is mistaken and he is actually holding an Employment Visa (I see from other posts that he is a NET (English Teacher) in a school here). Let's see what his response is.

If you've been living together anyway for several years then it seems to me (a personal thing, I realise) that getting married wouldn't be a big thing - it's perfectly possible just to do the minimum legal stuff first and then have some sort of big event, party whenever it suits later.