will my work visa get approved?

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  1. #1

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    will my work visa get approved?

    I just received an offer from a US high tech company that has an Asia operations located in HK. The position is for a senior fin analyst, and the salary is 32500 HKD per month.

    I am afraid (maybe too paranoid) that the work visa will get rejected, especially during these hard times (a lot of people losing jobs, etc)

    are my chances good?

    I know that the company needs to sponsor my visa, but I think my boss is looking for an agency that can help process my application. Anyone know of a good one? I think he was quoted 20K HKD by one, is this reasonable?

    Thanks for any inputs!


  2. #2

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    If you are qualified (at least a bachelor's degree) and experienced (at least a couple of years' professional work in the field) and don't have any big negatives (e.g. criminal record or previous immigration issues) there's no particular reason why you should be refused - and you certainly shouldn't be thinking of spending $20k on an agency!

    I have no idea if immigration change their policies when the conditions of the labour market change. I would doubt it though, without a specific change in government policy...


  3. #3

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    It did become harder to get visas during the SARS downturn (and remember that they changed the rules to stop Dependants working for a couple of years), but no evidence of that so far.

    Visa applications are really very straight forward. If you have the capability to do senior-level financial analysis then you should be able to get you head round a visa application!


  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by vmlinuz:
    If you are qualified (at least a bachelor's degree) and experienced (at least a couple of years' professional work in the field) and don't have any big negatives (e.g. criminal record or previous immigration issues) there's no particular reason why you should be refused - and you certainly shouldn't be thinking of spending $20k on an agency!

    I have no idea if immigration change their policies when the conditions of the labour market change. I would doubt it though, without a specific change in government policy...
    yes I have both bachelors and masters, with 3 years of work experience.

    So the company can apply by itself, instead of going through an agency?

  5. #5

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    It is you who applies for the Visa - the employer is your sponsor.

    Read: http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/ID(E)991.pdf
    Then you fill in this form: http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/ID990A.pdf
    And your sponsoring company fills in this form: http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/ID990B.pdf

    And you each supply the necessary supporting documentation.

    It's a very easy process.


  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    It is you who applies for the Visa - the employer is your sponsor.

    Read: http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/ID(E)991.pdf
    Then you fill in this form: http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/ID990A.pdf
    And your sponsoring company fills in this form: http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/ID990B.pdf

    And you each supply the necessary supporting documentation.

    It's a very easy process.
    Thank you very much! I sent this info to my future employer. I am sure that it will help!!

    Approx, how long does the approval process take? is 1 month sufficient?

  7. #7

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    It depends whether your employer has sponsored people on Employment Visas before. If they have then in some cases it has been possible to push new ones through in 2 weeks, but 4 is more normal. For companies that haven't sponsored before then 4 weeks is unlikely - 6 to 8 is more normal. And that assumes that you submit all the requested paperwork first time. Don't just ignore items - if you do that ImmD will simply write and ask for them, adding 2 weeks to the process each time.


  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by henryhg:
    Thank you very much! I sent this info to my future employer. I am sure that it will help!!

    Approx, how long does the approval process take? is 1 month sufficient?
    We work on about 6 weeks for the ones we submit.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    We work on about 6 weeks for the ones we submit.
    On the other hand, if your employer has a personal contact at immigration, all the paperwork is in order, and there are no queries, it's possible - in practice - to push through an application in a week or so.

    I'd say 4-6 weeks is a reasonable timescale to expect.