[hammyoni]

Hello. Question is:

If a US citizen marries a HK citizen (has British citizenship, dont know the technical term, but its the one with the UK passport), can the US citizen obtain HK permanent residency through the HK citizen?

I know the details on getting the UK citizenship and the associated rules of having to live in the UK for "x" amount of time, but im wondering about getting the HK permanent residency (green card), time? rules? etc...

Thanks to anyone that has details, i couldnt find anything on all my google searches

[PDLM]

Permanent Residency can only be obtained by non-HK citizens by being resident here for 7 years.

However, if you marry a HK Citizen or other Permanent Resident then you will be granted a Dependent Visa which allows you to work freely.

[hammyoni]

thank you for the reply. Does the dependent visa allow for indefinite stay in HK? Does it require renewal? Last, does it require "x" amount of days to live in HK?

I guess what im asking is, is the dependent visa = US Green Card?

Thanks!

[PDLM]

The term of the dependent visa is linked to that of the sponsor.

If the Dependent is dependent on someone with an Employment Visa then the Dependent Visa will need to be renewed when the employment visa is (normally 1 year + 2 years + 2years + 2 years). You cannot work with this type of dependent visa.

If the Dependent is dependent through marriage to a permanent resident then I believe that the dependent visa is open-ended: as long as you stay married the visa remains. You can work with this type of dependent visa.

[hammyoni]

thanks again,

that sounds similar to what a friend emaied me, but im not sure she is correct after reading your comment?

My question:
"To maintain HKID, what are the requirements to keep it?, stay in
>HK? how many times?

Her reply:
for the first year you need to stay more time in Hoing kong that means you need to visit at least 3 - 4 times total around 2 months then after 1 year you need to renew and for coming 6 years if you not leaving hong kong more than 6 months each years then no needs to report ... that means you can stay in US 5.5 months and comew back and leave again >"

I cant quite und what she was trying to say?

[PDLM]

I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to achieve...

Do you actually want to come and live permanentlyin HK, or do you simply want to spend the minimum amount of time here to get Permanent Residency?

Remember that the 7 year rule is just the starting point - you also have to prove to the satisfaction of ImmD that HK has indeed been your primary residence throughout that 7 year period and that you intend HK to remain as your permanent home. It is not at all automatic to get the permanent residency just by maintaining a HKID for 7 years. If, in fact, your permanent home remains elsewhere then there is a significant chance that you will never get HK PR.

[hammyoni]

ultimately I would liek to be able to travel and stay in HK anytime I want without restrictions. Meaning, I could stay in HK in the same manner one could stay in the US with a green card...because there is a difference in US green card and citizenship. In my case, Im not looking for "citizenship" in HK (as far as I und it, it would be a 3 star HKID, as there is no citizenship in HK), just looking to get the = of a US green card

[PDLM]

In that case then being married to a HK citizen will give you a Dependent Visa which allows you to do that for as long as you remain married, if you can reasonably show that you and the person you are married to spend enough time living in HK to justify you having a visa here at all. I'm not sure there are hard, fast rules about how long that should be. The (almost certainly stricter) qualification for PR only matters if you are anticpating divorcing them and hoping to retain the right to live and work in HK afterwards.

[tsuiwah]

You may want to drop a line to the Immigration Department (they are pretty responsive) or do a few more searches on this site.

PDLM is right on about getting a dependent's visa. Of course, that assumes your wife is living here. Otherwise, it is so easy for a US citizen to stay here for months at a time on a tourist visa.