[flaque]

Hello,
I am a French citizen, currently working in USA under a H-1B Visa. My company is sending me to Hong Kong for a duration of about 6 months to develop our activity there. They have a sister company that was set up a few weeks ago.
I have been to Hong Kong and China twice already. During this period, I will go back and forth to China (Shenzhen) about 3 times a week (I already have a chinese visa). Here is my question :

- I know that business trips are allowed in Hong Kong, but will I have problems with immigration with going back and forth that many times (3 times a week for 6 months) without a working visa ? I know that tourists visas have a validity of 180 days, but I am wondering whereas crossing the immigration that often will bring me any trouble.
- If applying for a visa, which one would be the best one ? I am thinking about an investor visa as I will go there to raise the capital of the company. which visa is the easiest to get ? working or investor ?
- Finally, if I decide to go for a visa, is it possible to come to Hong Kong before the end of the whole process ? I will be coming to HK with another person from that same company.
I've had different points of view on those questions, that is why I am asking your thoughts.
Thanks for the help.

[KnowItAll]

If you're here developing business and essentially in transit, you do not need a work or investor visa as such.

First of all, the only real opinion that matters is that of immigration : enquiry@immd.gov.hk will answer your questions.

Second, we know several people who use Hong Kong as a base camp (like you will be doing) to explore and develop the opportunities available here in HK. They do not have problems going in and out of China.

The easiest visa is a work visa. Investor visas take 3+ months. Work visas can normally be accquired in 30-45 days depending on the documentation that Immigration asks for.

You can travel back and forth on a visitor visa, while your work visa is being processed. This is not an issue. You can even pick up your work visa while you're here in Hong Kong (assuming you've told immigration in the begining that you're not drawing a salary etc), leave the country and reenter on your work visa, without problems.

At the end of the day, Hong Kong has a very open immigration policy. If you have legitimate business and if your company will employ locals and invest in Hong Kong, there are no major reasons that immigration would deny you a visa.

I would also recommend that you speak to the people at investhk ( www.investhk.gov.hk ). They are a good resource for helping genuine investors navigate the various govt departments.