How dangerous it is to work illegaly in HK?

[Boneco]

How dangerous it is to work illegaly in HK??? I have some friends living in Hk already and they all told me that nowadays it's getting more risky to work without a working visa in HK...

[carang]

dangerous?

well, your life isn't in danger... but you would be in danger of jail/fines/deportation. you would not be allowed to visit hk again for a good while...

i believe it is getting more difficult to find work illegally as well, although, i could be wrong on that point.

[filishiaginder]

I guess it depends on what you do. e.g. if you only work as a private tutor, the risk might not be as great as if you work as a parttime helper on sundays.

[carang]

but even as a private tutor, i've had customs officers, police officers, immigration officers children as clients...obviously, i was doing it legally...

[wtbhotia]

very hard to get work illegally, some constructions site / house-decorators might still do but u run a risk of not getting paid or paid very little for dangerous work, if the foreman doesnt pay u, who u going to turn to, if u get injured they will just dump u somewhere and then u will have to get treated yourself. Govt hospitals charge a lot for tourists, price nearly the same as private hospitals according to my misses.

[muddykins]

obviously it's not "dangerous" until you get caught. XD

for example, if you have a 30 year old Caucasian teaching English in a center, no one is really likely to suspect anything. if you can find an education center that are willing to employ you without a working visa and you can stay under the radar then you should be alright - as far as i know they don't do that many 'random checks' in that area. 0_o don't hold me to that though.

if you're a 20 year old bartender in LKF without a working permit and they do an ID search for everyone on the premises, you would be a liiiiittle more edgy.

that said, it does depend on how long you're staying. if you want to make some cash and work for a month or two, sure, but if you constantly do visa renewal runs by leaving to macau/china/manila for a day, they might get suspicious as to why you would want to stay in HK so long if you're "not working".

[ebow3d]

Only dodgy employers would actually want to employ you, without a work permit. That in itself should ring some alarm bells.

[zen_ni]

In my opinion, working in HK illegally/without proper visa are always dangerous but once you can get a job which get paid by cash, you should pay rent on time and stay away from troubles, its one of a hell experience if you think it is worthy.