[shwetapershad]

The situation for people on a dependent visa in HK has just changed, I hear. Getting a job should be easier now. Just need to know what has changed.

[shwetapershad]

A friend just forwarded this to me....

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/987c99a4-ad...0779e2340.html

[KnowItAll]

"Quality Migrant Scheme" news

[esque]

http://www.permitsfoundation.com/news.htm - same story.

thanks for posting shwetapershad! this could change everything for me... but I wish I'd known about it a couple of weeks ago. And I wish they'd announce the changeover date!

[esque]

http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/2...0602230169.htm

the government announcement

[rapid_jap]

Hey!

On reading the press release (http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/2...169_print.htm), I was wondering what the excerpt below means:

============================
At the end of the first 12-month period, the QMAS immigrants should be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Director of Immigration that they had taken steps to settle in Hong Kong by taking up residence here, e.g. by securing gainful employment or establishing a business. If the QMAS immigrant cannot demonstrate the taking of any such steps, a one-year extension may be granted by the director if he deems this appropriate.
============================

When they say, "...by securing gainful employment...", do they mean, dependents should have been already working at the time of applying under QMAS?? It doesn't make sense to me. Or, is my understanding of this wrong?

[PhilE]

Rapid_Jap - I think your understanding is wrong because the QMAS scheme firstly addresses the primary worker, then the dependents.

I.e. If say, a married man wanted to move to Hong Kong (e.g. due to an expat job transfer, or even just a decision to emigrate here and try his luck at finding a job), then if he meets the conditions in the QMAS scheme, he may be granted the right to live here with his family for upto 1 year initially. His dependants (e.g. wife) would also have the right to look for work without applying for a work visa (as they would be covered by default under the QMAS scheme).

The section you highlight seems to be saying that the man (in the above example) should secure a job or start a business in the 1st year to ensure that the employment/ business rights are renewed for future years (for him and his dependants).

The situation for those who are currently here as dependants of their working spouse will presumably depend on how the HK Government views renewals of work permits for the primary worker in future years. The articles don't seem to address this (unless I have missed something).

The FT article is interesting in that it says that since July 2003, 770 holders of dependants? visas had applied for work permits, with only one application rejected. Seems like the whole process has been a complete waste of administrative time - to filter out a single person from working!

Interesting times anyway!

[PhilE]

Assuming things go ahead as discussed, then this document seems to provide a bit more info for people already here:

http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr05-06/engl...gcobrief-e.pdf

It differentiates between those workers already here on a sponsored work visa and those who will in future come in under the QMAS scheme. Paragraph 23 states:

23. From the imposition of the requirement in July 2003 up to end of December 2005, the Immigration Department (ImmD) has received 770 applications from dependants for permission to work. All but one application have been approved. The business community has reflected to the Administration time and again that the requirement may have affected Hong Kong?s edge in attracting professionals to come to Hong Kong. In the light of the improving economic conditions and the employment situation, the requirement that the dependants of those persons admitted into Hong Kong for employment or as capital investment entrants must apply for permission to work will be removed. In a similar vein, dependants of QMAS immigrants will be allowed to work without prior permission from D of Imm. The date for the implementation of the new policy on employment of dependants will be separately announced.

So hopefully its just a matter of the date.

[esque]

Originally Posted by PhilE

The FT article is interesting in that it says that since July 2003, 770 holders of dependants? visas had applied for work permits, with only one application rejected. Seems like the whole process has been a complete waste of administrative time - to filter out a single person from working!

However, a lot of people I know on dependent visas don't apply for visas for the jobs they've most wanted to do, because they know they'll be rejected (eg it's widely believed that you can't get sponsorship for part-time work, freelance work, low-paying work etc). So even though it's been a waste of time for them, it's still been a pain in the a** for us!

[mercury_element]

Originally Posted by esque

However, a lot of people I know on dependent visas don't apply for visas for the jobs they've most wanted to do, because they know they'll be rejected (eg it's widely believed that you can't get sponsorship for part-time work, freelance work, low-paying work etc). So even though it's been a waste of time for them, it's still been a pain in the a** for us!

I totally agree with you.