[wahansa]

I am new here, so "hello" to everyone

I am a Hong Kong citizen living in Sweden, and now I'm looking to move back to Hong Kong with my Swedish husband.

I have many questions and I'd appreciate if someone can give me a bit of advice on each:

1) What kind of visa does my husband need to get to live in Hong Kong? Is it the dependent visa? If so, how easy is it to obtain one?

2) I have US university education and can speak four languages (3 dialects of Chinese, English, Swedish and French), have 11 years work experience in HK, New York and Stockholm. My field is journalism/corporate communications + some Web production. Have some management experience though not really managed a staff of people, just projects. How likely is it for me to find a job in HK and what would be the starting salary for someone like me?

3) My husband does not have a formal education and works as a museum guard. He does have a lot of skills like speaking five languages (including almost fluent English) and being an excellent drummer. How big of a chance does he have in finding a job?

Well, I guess that's a lot of questions already so I'll save some for the next time.

Thanks!

[PDLM]

1) Assuming you are legally married then he will get a dependent visa. This type of dependent visa will allow him to work freely without further paperwork.

2) Should be fairly straightforward, but for salaries that's a "how long's a piece of string" question. Anything from HK$15K/month to HK$80K or so I would guess. HAve a look at jobs websites (http://www.jobsdb.com.hk , http://www.monster.com.hk , etc.) for some ideas.

3) Not so easy I fear. He should be able to pick up some gigs drumming but that's not going to pay a lot. If he could get reasonably fluent in Cantonese that would help, but security guards are not a high paid job, and there are plenty of ex-gurkhas around who are cheap and well-qualified.

[KnowItAll]

Yeah.. but gwailo body guards make a TON of money... specially if they have some basic law enforcement background from what I've heard.

They're a prestige item in the high circles.

I don't think guarding a museum might qualify your husband for much here in HK. Also, having said that HK is about networking, meeting people .. never know, Mickey and Minnie might need protection from the mainland hordes.

[Xav]

For your husband: There are lots of job offers in the security field at the new HK Dineyland. They generally require Cantonese, but I guess they are looking for lots of people and he may have opportunities, as he speaks so many languages.

You should also contact the Swedish chamber of commerce in HK http://www.swedcham.com.hk/ they can be of good advice.

Välkommen tillbaka !

[wahansa]

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. I think being a gwailo body guard is out of the question... Coming from Sweden, he is scared of the crime in Hong Kong--maybe I have been telling him too much about the triads, LOL! JK. Disneyland might be a good idea. And now we also have a business idea so he can actually work from home. I hope it will work out! :-)

[PDLM]

Er, I think you'll find HK is no more dangerous than Sweden, which is after all the only first world nation to have had both its Prime Minister and its Foreign Minister assassinated in recent times.

[Xav]

Originally Posted by PDLM

Er, I think you'll find HK is no more dangerous than Sweden, which is after all the only first world nation to have had both its Prime Minister and its Foreign Minister assassinated in recent times.

Have you ever been living in Sweden? It's easy and tactless to play with figures this way. I can tell you that there are very few places in the world where, as an individual and normal citizen, you feel as safe as in Sweden. Scandinavia, along with Switzerland and Luxemburg, are among the only countries where public people (like politicians) can manage to live normally.
Plz, go have a look before writting absurd posts.

[wahansa]

Ha ha, good point! At least in HK you have Tsing Shan hospital. In Sweden, the mental hospitals don't have enough room for the lunatics. That's why some end up assisinating the government leaders

Well, I have to add another point after having see Xav's reply (about the same time I wrote mine). Of course, as an average citizen in Sweden, I do feel a lot safer than when I was living in Hong Kong. Things are indeed getting a bit worse over the years here, but everything is relative, isn't it? The general crime rate is still much lower than that of HK, I'm sure. The fact that there are more police walking on the beat in the streets of HK does make me feel good though. In Sweden, you hardly see any police at all! There is a shortage of police and many serious cases don't get solved due to this. Just my two cents after having lived in both places.

[Xav]

Originally Posted by wahansa

Ha ha, good point! At least in HK you have Tsing Shan hospital. In Sweden, the mental hospitals don't have enough room for the lunatics. That's why some end up assisinating the government leaders

The Swedish system is far from being ideal, that's true. We have to recognize however that it is pretty difficult to FEEL unsafe in Sweden, eventhough there may be quite a few crazy people walking around.


About the police: isn't it amazing how people can still feel safe without having the police at every corner? I actually have a very good friend in the Police School in Stockholm, and it's true that they are simply now allowed, by law, to do many things the Police in HK would be allowed to do. And their salary isn't very appealing for young recruits...

[PDLM]

As it happens, yes I did live in Sweden (Nynashamn) for several months many years ago. And I have also lived in Germany, Taiwan, the UK, Belgium and Russia. Of those the only one I ever felt in the slightest bit unsafe was Russia. The rest are sufficiently safe that personal safety is simply not something worth worrying about at all.

(Now driving in Belgium between 9pm and midnight is a whole different matter - that really is scary)