Student visa earliest activation date

[@tom]

Hi there,

Anyone know when is the earliest you can enter on a student visa if the studies commence on 1st of September? If I receive my student visa label in July, can I come a month before my studies start? I normally need a visa to stay in HK, there is no visa-free stay for my passport. Couldn't find any information on this online. Thanks!

[aw451]

Once you have your visa label you can enter

[@tom]

Thanks for the replies!
But what if the duration of the visa is say 6 months? Wouldn't it be like staying longer than allowed, if I come a month earlier? Or the visa duration is just for "allowed duration for taking up studies in HK" and doesn't relate to how long you can stay?

[aw451]

The visa will have an end date on it and that's when you have to leave / have an extension of stay, "6 months" is just for reference.

[TakeshiT]

It doesn't matter, once you get the visa in hand, you can come as early as you want.

But, if your visa duration is 6 months, and your study period is 6 months, if you come early, you will have to renew the visa sometime while you're studying before the visa runs out. This should be a routine procedure and will not have any complications.

Immigration people may be pissed if you need to renew your visa just to stay for a couple extra days, but I'm sure they'll still do it.

[qhank]

Original Post Deleted

Yes it's all e-visas now. I had thought GEP visas were still paper-based, but no only the application process is paper based. The actual visas are all electronic now.