Employers - 10 Tips to Ensure Immigration Compliance

1.All foreign nationals need an employment visa sponsored by their employers UNLESS they are holders of a Capital Investment Visa, Unconditional Stay, Right of Abode, Right to Land or a Dependant Visa issued before July 1, 2003.

2.ALWAYS CHECK candidates HKID cards. If they have any code except R, A, or U, you are put on notice to check their passport for further details of their exact immigration status.

3.Don’t advertise for foreign national employees ‘with a valid working visa’. There’s NO SUCH THING in these circumstances.

4.If a candidate advises you they ‘already have a working visa’, you are put on notice that you need to apply to change the sponsorship from their old employer to you. Failure to do so is a criminal offence by both the candidate and YOU!

5.Mere possession of a HKID card DOES NOT equate to immigration compliance. Non-permanent ID cards are issued under the Registration of Persons Ordinance; immigration status under the Immigration Ordinance. These laws are not the same.

6.Don’t allow a foreign national Candidate-Employee to begin their duties for you UNTIL their application for an employment sponsored by your organization has been approved.

7.There is no such thing as a ‘probationary visa’. Don’t be tempted to employ a foreign national without applying for the correct employment visa IN ADVANCE of commencing the employment. Deciding to wait to apply for the correct immigration status until after the probationary period means you are employing a person who is not lawfully employable – irrespective of whether they are ‘on probation’ or not.

8.That a Candidate-Employee ‘can’t get the help’ of the immediately prior sponsor of their employment visa is irrelevant to your obligations to ensure immigration compliance in regard to your proposed new employment arrangements. Such help is not needed in the process and is often a red herring for something more ominous. Be AWARE.

9.DON’T be tempted to inflate the salary, benefits, terms and conditions of a proposed employment just to ‘get it through’ immigration. Such misrepresentations are a criminal offence.

10.DO advise the HKID within 30 days of a sponsored employee ceasing to work for your organization.