Vistor Visa to Dependant Visa

Closed Thread
  1. #1

    Vistor Visa to Dependant Visa

    Hi, Can someone please help with this.
    my girlfrend and i got married on Saturday at city hall. She is Filipino and has been here for over 3 months on a 14-day vistior visa as that is al she could get and we didnt think that 3 months would raise immigration suspicious. It seems that the filipino passport probably isnt worth the paper it is printed on.

    Anyway She has been leaving HK every 2 weeks and coming back thru the same day. Immigration questioned her last Wednesday about her status(she isnt working, just staying with me planning our wedding) and gave her 7 days with SCL underneath the stamp. Told us to go to Wan chai and clarify our situation.

    My immigration agent has submitted yesterdaythe dependant forms and we went to Wan Chai and they granted her a extension till the 23rd April. The Dependant visa however wil most likely take btw 4- 6 weeks

    Afew questions,

    1/ if we travel out of HK btw now and 23rd April, wil she be allowed back in(ie we wanted to have a honeymoon) wihout being interviewed?

    2/ My immigration agent has said that if the dependant visa isnt thru by the 23rd that she just remains in HK.(ie effectively overstaying) this seems wrong as she must leave the contry to come back n the dependant visa and if she has overstayed she coud very well get deported if not fined.

    3/ does anyone know the processiong time for depedant visa at moment. Ie they say that time for a working visa(4-6weeks but at the moment it is really only 3 weeks)

    4/ if as i think she must leave on 23rd will she be granted an additional 14 days more or wil they say that wan chai gave her aditional time and that is all she gets til her dependant visa is thru.

    any help much appreciated. thanks


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Posts
    12,383

    If the visa is not approved, try and plead your case and get another extension on the visitor visa.

    Rather than outwit and out think the immd officers, I'd suggest going down there a few days earlier and asking them politely what the best approach to extending her stay would be ... as she's now legally your wife and the dependant's visa is being processed.

    DO NOT overstay .. will just lead to more complications.


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    hong kong
    Posts
    3,484

    1) Yes
    2) Your agent is accurate but its always best to go back to immigration and get another extension. They will just look at the file and see the progress. Then if it hasn't already been refused they will issue the extension.
    3) 4-6 weeks is quoted and possible IF your have given all the right papers and they are happy. It can drag on for 3 months if they keep asking for answers to questions they never gave you in the first place.
    4) see 2)

    FYI 2 and 3 are based on my personal experience getting a Dependant visa from a Working visa - on marriage. My wife is a Chinese National, HK Perm ID holder, divorced from a HK man. To Immigration all that my wife is and was, looks just as " dodgy " as your Phillipine bride.

    My advice is don't sweat it if the paperworks in the system. She will get extended until they resolve the case.


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    23,205

    Just a caution on how long this is likely to take - in my case my wife had a clean record with HK Immigration, multiple visits, but well spaced, and no SCLs or anything like that. We submitted absolutely all the paperwork they asked for first time, she stayed out of the country for all but one weekend trip into HK during the application process, and yet still they came back wanting more paperwork (I ended up producing Skype logs in the end to show yet more evidence of the seriousness of the relationship, their requests for postmarked letters being somewhat dated I felt!).

    Overall it took 10 weeks, even with me visiting them in Wan Chai every week or so after the 6 weeks they quoted.

    Since you say she isn't actually doing anything here my recommendation would be to go back to The Philippines and wait there. Immigration seem to not like getting the impression that you are trying to bend the rules.


  5. #5

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Pampanga, Philippines
    Posts
    29,764

    My wife transferred from a visitor visa to dependent. Her history with immigration was about as dodgy as it can get but still had no problem getting an extension for her to stay until the application was sorted. With SCL on her passport I would suggest either getting an extension (or extensions as it can take ages) and staying here or leaving and waiting for the final approval. DO NOT OVERSTAY. Actually our biggest problems were over the kids (though they did tend to confirm the seriousness of the relationship) and the accuracy of the Philippine birth certs as determined by HK immigration.


  6. #6

    i got my dependant visa for 6 weeks, from visitor status to dependant visa, doing visa run for 2 months and being questioned for the last time ( i have 30 days free visa access ), but i don't have any SCL stamped in my passport.
    after being questioned i get married with my wife, and do visa run again several times without any problem by showing the officer marriage certificate.