[bobbyd]

My wife and I will be moving to HK in September. I'll have a nice job, but my wife is worried about what she will do while I'm off engaging in capitalism. She is a Portuguese-speaking Brazilian who is almost fluent in English. Before I dragged her out of Brazil, she taught Portuguese to foreigners at a federal university, and she also worked as a nurse.

Oddly, she is reluctant to occupy herself by spending my salary. She mumbles a lot about stuff like "boredom" and "contributing."

So to quell (or confirm) her fears, I thought I'd see if any expat spouses have had luck in finding meaningful work in HK. Any responses would be very much appreciated!

[MovingIn07]

My husband has found work by being a sole contractor (consulting) to mostly the same people he did before we moved. But that's possible to do at a distance. I would have thought that there was a need for language tutors here just the same as everywhere else, although with Macau so close perhaps there are already plenty of Portugese ones?

[hello_there]

Originally Posted by bobbyd

So to quell (or confirm) her fears, I thought I'd see if any expat spouses have had luck in finding meaningful work in HK. Any responses would be very much appreciated!

Plenty of "expat spouses" continue our professional careers in HK.

[aussiegal]

Ha ha, she'll get over it. Nothing wrong with taking a few years off to enjoy life in HK.

Not sure she would even be allowed to work on a dependent's visa? Anyone know about this?

Maybe she could volonteer.

[Sleuth]

Originally Posted by aussiegal

Ha ha, she'll get over it. Nothing wrong with taking a few years off to enjoy life in HK.

Not sure she would even be allowed to work on a dependent's visa? Anyone know about this?

Maybe she could volonteer.

I agree. There is more to life than working until you die.

The American Women's Association (which is open to everyone and I doubt it is even a majority American) has a lot of volunteer activities and things to do.

I think they changed the dependent law last year and now you can work with that visa.

[PDLM]

Yes, if you have an Employment Visa then your wife is able to work without any further paperwork once her Dependant Visa is granted.

[louloute]

As far as you are married, she will have a dependent visa. The best way when you're not an english native speaker is to "create your job".
It is easy to have your own business here. So she could perfectly work as an independant Portuguese teacher for exemple.

She can PM me if she wants to talk about it directly.

[KnowItAll]

Would recommend she contacts the local Brazilian embassy and chambers of commerce to dig up a list of companies that are in HK.

[PDLM]

Oh, and if she has the body for it there is regular employment available as a Brazilian dancing girl at carnivals, Rugby 7s and so on

[carang]

there are quite a few brazilians around. i was very good friends with one before she went back to brazil. she introduced me to a few more..

they, along with the brazilians in macau, have a fairly close-knit community.

and yes, if she is here on a dependent visa, she is allowed to work.