What happens if you loose a visa label before taking the plane to Hong Kong?

[SimonR]

You have to enter to activate your first visa. After that, you are living here and don't need to for subsequent renewals.

If you're a tourist you're not living here.

No I get that, but why it is necessary to re-enter a country to activate a visa is a big riddle to me I am just curious to know why,

[SimonR]

bibblu:

No because I have a visa free period of 90 days in Hong Kong, so I can go there without a visa, but if I want a visa while I'm there I have to re-enter, which is quite funny I think. But maybe someone could enlighten me. It does not seem to make any sense at first sight.

The reason why you go studying in another country is exactly because you want to see the ways of other cultures an experience something new. The bad sides and the good sides. That is the whole point of traveling, so what on earth are you on about?

I would not say that activating the visa is simple, so let us just agree to disagree. Maybe it is simple to take a ferry to Macau and back, but could you think of a way that would be even more simple? I sure could

[HKHK154]

However, in the example you give above, you would be living in HK illegally as you can't live here without a valid visa (or permanent resident status).

Or Right to Land / Unconditional Stay.
Yes I'm being pedantic.

[HowardCoombs]

I never understood why you need to leave the country to activate an employment visa either, seems like a waste of time. Should be able to do it at an Immigration office if you are here on a valid visitor visa.

Here is another waste of time with zero logic in it.

A Canadian individual (normally entitled to 3 month tourist visa) comes to HKG on a 2 year contract and a 2 year work visa. After 1.99 years, just before he is due to stop work, he decides he'd like to stay here an extra 2-3 weeks to clearup his affairs and relax a bit. He goes to IMMD and asks:
1) Can I extend my work visa for 3 weeks so I can just hang out? The answer is No, you dont have a valid contract so you cant have work visa extension.
2) Can I please have a tourist/visitor visa for 3 months (per normal practice) so I can hang out for a few weeks? The answer is No, that can only be granted at the border.

So he had to leave town on the day of his work visa expiry, go to Macau and have a nice dinner, waste time past midnight (so the work visa was fully expired) and then come back to get a fresh visitor visa.
He was told explicitly that if he came back before midnight, while work visa was still valid, he would not be given anything special and the visa would expire at midnight as normal....

[TheBrit]

For a country that does bureaucracy pretty well as a whole, I do think the Immigration department is a little bit substandard... especially the treatment of visitors or future residents from poorer Asian countries. For us whities the Immigration rules can be a bit of an annoyance, for them it can be a source of major heartache and worry.

[cookie09]

The lift from 1/F departure level goes to sea level. from there there are lift s to 2/F, arrival level (In HK China City that is). The question is if you will run into problems without a Macau or China chop in the passport.

not a problem, i did this once (a few years back though)