Arrive on Tourist visa to collect dependant visa?

Megahurtz1902 · 22-11-2013, 10:35 AM

Hi all,
I am a work-permit visa (GEP) holder in hong kong. I have applied for my wife's dependant visa, the application of which has been filed on Oct end. The website says it will take 4-6 weeks, whereas on some threads I have seen "certain" visas take as long as 16 weeks to process. Though disappointing, have to accept the fact.

Anyways what I need to know is, can my wife arrive on a tourist visa here, collect the visa label here itself whenever processed and affix it by herself on the passport?

Also since the tourist visa is of 15 days and if the dep application takes longer than that to process, can the tourist visa be extended, for like a month or two?

Any suggestions are always welcome! Also let me know any specific authorities or numbers to contact for this matter.

Cheers!

kimwy66 · 22-11-2013, 10:44 AM

The processing time for your wife's visa will depend on a lot of points, your country of origin being the main one.

Your wife can arrive on a tourist visa, collect her dependent visa, and she then needs to do a 'Macau run'. That is she has to leave the Hong Kong and come back in with her visa in her passport to get it activated. She can then go to Immigration and apply for her HKID card.

Edit: I missed that your wife has a 15 day visa. In which case it would be wise for her to wait until you have her dependent visa approved, as it may take some time and with a 15 day visa she may face issues going out of HK to come back in and renew it (known as a visa run)

Megahurtz1902 · 22-11-2013, 10:59 AM

@kimwy66 :
Can you please shed more light on this "Visa Run"?

Also, can the tourist visa be extended? (So as to make up for the time taken to process the dep visa application time.)

Sorry I'm a complete noob in these matters...

kimwy66 · 22-11-2013, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by Megahurtz1902:

@kimwy66 :
Can you please shed more light on this "Visa Run"?

Also, can the tourist visa be extended? (So as to make up for the time taken to process the dep visa application time.)

Sorry I'm a complete noob in these matters...

A visa run is simply leaving the country and coming back in again to get a new tourist visa stamp in your passport. However, your wife only has a 15 day visa, my advice is do not try this. A 15 day visa indicates your wife comes from a country that Immigration border control may well pay special attention to. There is no way to extend a tourist visa, except in emergency circumstances such as serious illness.

It also suggests her visa may take some time to come through. There have been people on here from Nepal and Philippines reporting waits of up to 20 weeks. Your wife should stay where she is in my opinion, and wait for the dependent visa to come through.

Also, do not keep asking Immigration for progress updates. There is a theory, and it is just a theory not official, that continually asking for information on how your application is going will make the processing time longer.

Megahurtz1902 · 22-11-2013, 02:24 PM

One more piece of info that i need is - How much time does a dependant visa for India normally take (provided all the documents and all is clear)?

Claire ex-ax · 22-11-2013, 02:35 PM

A few people have posted here about it taking 16+ weeks.

Mrs. Jones · 22-11-2013, 03:47 PM

That's exactly what I did, a visa run to Macau. I have a EU passport though and had a 90 day tourist visa.

Gruntfuttock · 22-11-2013, 11:37 PM

Of course if your wife has entered on a tourist visa and is, essentially, already residing here, then the ImmD officials processing her visa application will have access to this information and it may not be helpful to her application. They don't like people assuming the outcome.

Plutark · 29-11-2013, 11:01 AM

yes don't try the Macau Visa run if she only has 14/15 days visa. They will clearly reject it. Best wait until it's approved and then bring her in. I'm in a similar situation so I know how tricky this can, patience is the key here. If you get too excited they might delay it as they will become suspicious.
Also they will check whether or not your relationship is a sham, i.e. asking for pictures of you together in different places to prove you're together.