INTERFOCUS

Administration & Human Resources > Visa Application

Each visa application is assessed by a specific case officer. Though there are suggested requirements for each type of application, the final documents or information requested by each case officer will never be the same. The assessment is entirely discretionary on each scenario by each officer.

The processing time is, realistically, about 2 months since submission of an application. Or according to the Department, it will be 4-6 weeks after "submission of all documents required". However, the officer might only send you a reply in 4 weeks' time to request for further documents, and the 4-6 weeks pledge will start again after your submission of the further documents requested. So, one should allow at least 2 months for the Hong Kong Immigration Department to process an application. The visa validity of a first time approval is, maximum, 12 months. A visa might be approved with a shorter validity.

IF provides services applications to Hong Kong Immigration Department, including any first-time applications and visa extensions.

Employment Visa
Employment Visa is for a foreign employee to work in Hong Kong. The company is required to provide a fixed monthly salary to the employee. Hong Kong Immigration Department will not consider pure commission basis salary, part-time or freelance employment for an employment visa application. The position offered should be of a managerial or supervisory level. The key consideration for an employment visa application is the relevant working experience and academic background of the applicant; meanwhile the employing company is required to proof that they cannot possibly find a local candidate to fill up such position. A fresh university graduate is extremely difficult to apply for an employment visa. Pure language skill or family ties are also not strong enough to justify for an application.

Another consideration for an employment visa application is the establishment of the employing company. Generally speaking the longer the history and the larger in size of the employing company, the less questions will be asked about the company. For a newly established company of less than 18 months operation, and employing less than 4 staff, might even ask for provide a business plan (though applying only for an employment but not an investment visa) and also personal information of the business owners.

An employment visa application is not necessary easier to apply than an investment visa. However, immigration officers have large extent of discretion on the documents required for each application. They take a discretionary approach on their assessment for an employment visa application, rather than a literal one.

Our Services including:
  • Liaise with the related department(s) and preparing the necessary registration documents
  • Provide the documents for applicant’s signature
  • Request different documents as the related department(s) request.
  • Submit the documents to related department(s)
  • Representation of applicant for collect and re-submit the documents from/ to related departments(s)