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Minimum work experience required for work visa?

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Mar 2018
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    Minimum work experience required for work visa?

    Hi all,

    Have a quick question. Was browsing around some forums and saw somewhere that there's an (unofficial) minimum of 2 years of post-graduate work experience required to get work visa approval -- similar to the (again unofficial but a confirmed rule for all purposes) 20,000 HKD per month minimum salary.

    Checked the immigration departments website and resources like GEP and could not find any specific mention of this, though generally can guess it would fall under "special skills/experiences" similar to how the minimum salary would fall under teh section stating the salary must be to professional market standards.

    Anyone have any experience with this? Anyone ever get a work visa with less experience than that, and were there extenuating circumstances (really really niche market, etc?)?

    I guess for my own specific sake too, I currently hold about 1 year's worth of post graduate experience (recent grad). Was offered a position with a large global firm in HK and they/hired agency are handling visa process. I check off all the other boxes -- salary is well above requirement, have relevant degree, experience has been with brand names in the industry to date (including an internship with this same company pre graduating), can speak both Canto/Mando, company even worded the offer letter so that it doesn't seem like a junior position (more like a mid-level one) and have made efforts to hire locally twice, have all documentation. Just don't have the 2-year threshold. And I guess the job really isn't something that a local can't do (financial services), but think can def BS something on that front.

    How much of a problem is this? Agency nor company have brought it up at all and really doesn't seem like they think it's a problem...is this an oversight on their end?

    Sorry for the long post! Think may be of interest to all recent grads job-hunting in HK.

    Thanks!


  2. #2

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    just let them handle the application. there's nothing you can do about it.
    i suspect you can still get the visa.. post grad experience isn't an outright must if they can find some reason to hire you

    shri likes this.

  3. #3

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    You'll be fine.


  4. #4

    I know young westerners fresh graduates working in HK. Not chinese speaking.
    They graduated from very famous universities. Bachelor degrees not postgrad.
    And working in well known international companies.


  5. #5

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    Mar 2018
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    Thanks for the replies... and yes have realized there's no point in me fretting about it any more.

    I guess more generally then, am guessing this minimum 2 year post-grad work experience isn't really a hard rule, and is much more leniently enforced than things like the minimum salary? Is it even a guideline at all?

    First read about it here: How Much & What Type of Work Experience Post-Graduation is Actually Needed to Get a Hong Kong Work Visa? | Hong Kong Visa Handbook .. and was worried because the OP's situation does sound quite similar to mine.


  6. #6

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    I think that's only if you are being employed in a managerial or supervisory role which you aren't.


  7. #7

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    Don't read too much online about it--those articles just sell smoke. Try it and see -- present yourself in a well-mannered and motivated individual and at the end of the day you know you did your best!


  8. #8

    I work for a large global firm and like most similar companies, we employ a number of fresh/recent grads every year. The large MNCs will all have agreed arrangements with Hong Kong immigration and if one of them has offered you a job, they obviously don't think there will be any problem to get you a visa.


  9. #9

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    We are a relatively small company and we get visa's for new grads. Usually excellent candidates from well known Universities. We just say we need the type of people that HK universities don't churn out - and make sure we have tried to get them from HK first.


  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Scousebanana:
    large MNCs will all have agreed arrangements with Hong Kong immigration and if one of them has offered you a job, they obviously don't think there will be any problem to get you a visa.

    i doubt this is the case. the civil minded hk civil service will not allow such an arrangement.
    they can be lenient to the MNC in application of local visa, but definitely there won't be any written or even verbal agreement on issuing visas without going thru the actual approval process... and different officer in charge is likely to behave differently to an applicant.
    HK_Katherine likes this.