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Who's eligible for ASSG?

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  1. #41
    Quote Originally Posted by yanquis:
    Amlc1984,

    Here was my process.

    (If you haven't done so)

    You would need to go to ASSG Scheme floor at IMMD. Show the officers your letter. The fee is about 190HKD to get the Visa sticker for your passport. In your case, if you already have landed, I think you may have to go through another border crossing to get "Journey Completed" stamp from HK officer on the Visa to activate it.

    But beforehand, schedule an appointment (preferably online) and head back to IMMD for your HK ID. You will have your card in 2 weeks. If you are giving permission for someone else to pick up your card, you will have to complete Form 140.

    Best of luck to you!

    K
    Really appreciate the tips!

    I'll go on October. The immigration department advise me to show the approval letter at immigration once landed which I think I might have to anyway as I bought an one way ticket.
    yanquis likes this.

  2. #42

    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    8

    Extending ASSG visa

    Hi,

    Did anyone else interpret the IMMD gov site that the ASSG visa can be extended after the first year?
    This was my understanding. So, I have been advising employer and potential future employers that I do not need a work visa.
    However, I went to immigration today and they insisted that now that I have completed one year on ASSG, I need to switch my visa to a work visa and get the sponsorship from company.

    The information on the IMMD website states that you can extend for 2 years after the first year on ASSG - this is completely mis-leading! Has anyone else experienced this?

    The problem is that I am now due to terminate my contract in 2 weeks, my visa expires in 1 week and I have not confirmed next contract yet. Any advice please? Immigration insist that I need to get the sponsorship from company and it's not possible to extend the ASSG.


  3. #43

    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    8

    One more question: Has anyone established a business and sponsored their own work visa? I want to do this anyway but since my current visa expires soon - I would be accelerating the entire process!


  4. #44

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    10

    Yan,

    I did interpret the approved ASSG scheme applicant's​ ability to extend their stay based on providing proof of employment. I was not expecting​ the employer to assist with the work visa after the year was up.

    In my experience, there were a few officers that I encountered who weren't even familiar with this scheme. The IMMD officer (gentleman) who helped me when I was approved had crew cut grey haircut and wore glasses.

    Can you give feedback of your outcome?

    Thanks,

    K


  5. #45

    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    At an undisclosed location.
    Posts
    387
    Quote Originally Posted by YanLiM:
    Hi,

    Did anyone else interpret the IMMD gov site that the ASSG visa can be extended after the first year?
    This was my understanding. So, I have been advising employer and potential future employers that I do not need a work visa.
    This was my understanding also. Though, I was aware of the following hitch - after the first year, one also needs to get ID990B submitted to ImmD to get the renewal processed (same as IANG).

    Quote Originally Posted by YanLiM:
    However, I went to immigration today and they insisted that now that I have completed one year on ASSG, I need to switch my visa to a work visa and get the sponsorship from company.
    I guess, if they're referring to the need to complete ID990B, then it's really not misleading. You're not switching to a work visa like GEP.

    I interpreted ID990B to just be a form that tells ImmD that so-and-so company is your employer. Maybe ImmD actually views it as a type of sponsorship though?

    For IANG renewals, IIUC there's no need for the 'sponsoring' employer to demonstrate that you have special skills not found in locals or that they even tried to hire a local for your job first (the reasons why getting sponsorship is usually so difficult in the first place). I've been assuming the true is same of ASSG. So at worst, I'd expect that you could go to your employer and say "I don't need you to sponsor me, but I do need you to fill out this form as proof that you do intend to hire/rehire/retain me and send it on to ImmD."

    If this is wrong (that one needs to switch to GEP or otherwise needs to have one's employer prove that one has rare skills not found in HK or that a local was searched for but one who could fulfill the role was not found), then I think this pretty much kills the scheme.

    Quote Originally Posted by YanLiM:
    The information on the IMMD website states that you can extend for 2 years after the first year on ASSG - this is completely mis-leading! Has anyone else experienced this?
    ASSG might be too new, so there might not be a whole lot of other people who have gone through this yet. However, since it seems to be modeled closely on IANG, perhaps asking someone who has gone through the IANG renewal process might help here.

    So, I have the following questions for those that have gone done this:

    1) When applying for IANG renewal, can you fill out form ID990B (getting your manager or HR to sign/stamp it as appropriate) and submit it to ImmD yourself, or does your employer have to do submit ID990B to ImmD themselves?

    2) After the IANG renewal is approved, is one tied to the employer on ID990B or can the visa holder change employers at will?

    3) Is it ok to go through IANG renewals with different employers each time? (First renewal after the free year, you have Company A fill out ID990B, but for the second renewal it is now Company B that is employing you and thus Company B needs to fill out ID990B.)

    I imagine that the answers for IANG renewals and ASSG renewals will be the same.

    Quote Originally Posted by YanLiM:
    The problem is that I am now due to terminate my contract in 2 weeks, my visa expires in 1 week and I have not confirmed next contract yet. Any advice please? Immigration insist that I need to get the sponsorship from company and it's not possible to extend the ASSG.
    Look at https://geoexpat.com/forum/54/thread342783.html - an IANG renewal applicant in that thread seems to be in a similiar situation to yourself. It seems that in general, the length of the contract wouldn't affect the length of the new visa (you still get 2 or three years even if the contract is for a shorter term than that), but there's some uncertainty of what happens if the contract is too short.
    chuckster007 likes this.

  6. #46

    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    8

    Sorry for delayed response.

    IMMD confirmed that the employer needed to complete ID990b. If you switch employer during extension period, there is no need to inform IMMD nor to have new employer complete ID990.

    However, it is mandatory for the ID990b to be completed for extension. A contract or letter isn't sufficient. In my case, my employment terminated a few days before the expiry of my visa so unfortunately I couldn't extend.

    You can re-apply for a new ASSG visa again if you don't extend.

    shri likes this.

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