Sponsorship for Native English Speaker

[carang]

LOL! You're too funny!

[Flat Hunter]

Sorry - didn't realise ACTUALLY being able to speak or teach was a criteria ... !

Believe it or not a few of us do actually require that our teachers meet those criteria, and more.

[ikincooper]

Well done for spotting my typo, full marks to you my friend :-)

[carang]

"Suppressed" was a typo? That is rather more than a typo....

[hullexile]

"Suppressed" was a typo? That is rather more than a typo....

He has very big fingers.

[ikincooper]

think what you like mate. I won't be going down the teaching route in any case so no big issue really

[ikincooper]

Just an update; I'm in HK and have been here for just over 2 weeks now. I've been looking for jobs with sponsorship and have already has 1 interview but it seems that they are not keen to sponsor as the process is too long (the last time they sponsored it took over 6 months to get it all sorted!).

My fiancee and I decided to get married which'll open the doorway to getting a dependant visa and thus hopefully allow me to be considered for more jobs. I didn't like the idea of marrying to allow for the visa but am actually very excited for the Wedding now that we've made that decision (Fri' 8th Oct is our special day).

PDLM, I won't be able to re-open my dependant visa application from the beginning of 2009 as you suggested. Just thought I'd confirm that for you, having now spoken with the immigration department.

Hope to meet some of you Geoexpats sometime. Cheers, Niki

[Sophie08]

Yeah, you weren't rejected you just chose to apply for a work visa instead.

Sums up the whole thing really though. HK Government decides it wants to set up a scheme to attract Quality Migrants to HK 'cos that sounds good. They set up a ridiculously lengthy and tedious application process creating lots of jobs for the new department. Of course anybody who is a genuine quality migrant whose services are needed in Hong Kong has no need to apply for a QMAS, they can use the existing work visa which typically takes 2-3 weeks to process rather than the several month for a QMAS visa.

The dept/govt doesn't want to admit they've failed to attract many 'Quality Migrants' but instead of dealing with the real problem - streamlining the unnecessarily convoluted application process - they instead lower the selection criteria until the 'Quality Migrant Admission Scheme' becomes the 'Migrants who don't qualify for a work visa but who are prepared to wait a really long time in order to get any kind of visa they can Admission Scheme'.

Oh really? Why don't you try applying for it and see if you pass.

The QMAS is ideal for professionals such as self employed artists and musicians, or people who are looking to set up their own business in HK but can't get a normal visa because of their nationality.. Some of these people have very good qualifications but it's impossible for them to get an employment visa due to the nature of their profession. If you were a freelance photographer, how else are you suppose to get a work visa?? I'm a classical violinist myself and I applied for QMAS while I was on employment visa sponsored by my orchestra. My application was approved and this is now my second year on this scheme, but I do know a few musicians who applied for this scheme were rejected despite meeting the minimum mark.



Not every job work the average 9-5 in an office, this QMAS is meant for those like me who mostly work on a self-employed basis.

[PDLM]

My application was approved and this is now my second year on this scheme, but I do know a few musicians who applied for this scheme were rejected despite meeting the minimum mark.

This is interesting - did ImmD give any specific reason for the rejection?

[Sophie08]

Nope, apparently they never give you the reason for the rejection just the letter with the bad news. My director told me while I was preparing the paper works at the time that someone she knew also applied for the QMAS, who she thought would pass but actually failed as well. The renewal is not all that easy either. I went through my first renewal back in August and was under the impression that all I had to prove was the fact I have settled in HK and been living here since my initial approved application. I didn't even bother with my work papers and just submitted my rental contract, bills.. The immigration called me back about 2 weeks after my renewal application and asked specifically for my work contract, a reference letter from my employer, my working schedule for the past year, bank statements and a detailed letter from me explaining what I have achieved in the first year work wise.. They seem to imply that without showing the documents to their satisfaction that I have established my work here already in the first year, they could reject my application or only grant me 1 year instead of the 2 year extension. I immediately gave them all the papers they wanted and got the 2 year extension in the end. Not a piece of cake people seem to assume.