Urgent: Must I enter HK from USA to Work

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  1. #1

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    Jun 2009
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    Urgent: Must I enter HK from USA to Work

    I will be teaching at HKU and now my employment visa application is
    under consideration. I am a USA F1 student visa holder and the visa
    expires on August 6. I am a recent graduate from a US university. Now I just traveled back to China and will be
    staying here for a while.

    Can I enter HK to take up my appointment at HKU directly from China?
    or Must I enter HK from USA?

    An officer in the HKU human resource department (she is in charge of
    taking care of visa application) advised that in this way "I think it
    is fine for you to enter HK directly from U.S.A., and not from China."

    It sounds so scary that I may need to travel back to USA in early
    August.

    Hope it is not true so that I can enter HK directly from China.

    Last edited by harp2800; 29-06-2009 at 05:57 PM.

  2. #2

    Join Date
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    For the life of me I cannot understand what you are nervous about. They don't freaking care what border crossing you enter by only that you have valid travel documents -passport, etc.

    When people like me convert from tourist visas here they tell you at HK Immigration to go to Macau and come back using the work visa and I am from Canada. Not only that when I got back to HK from Macau they asked at the border if I wanted to re-enter as a tourist or activate the work visa as I still had a lot of time left before I had to do this or lose it.

    If you are concerned, ask directly at HK Immigration if there is some rule that you must only enter from the USA. Even if you come to HK from the air port, you could still be coming from China. I don't get your concern.


  3. #3

    Join Date
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    Gah, that first post was really hard to understand!

    Anyway, if you've got a work visa for HK, you can activate it by entering from somewhere like Macau- that's what a lot of people do.

    (Then again, I could have missed the point of the OP completely)


  4. #4

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    A guy told me he was asked by the immigration office to enter HK for the appointment directly from USA. This guy holds China passport and is working or a student in USA now.

    So it just came to me that I may be asked to do the same.

    But I think that kind of requirement is really stupid and non sense.


  5. #5

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    When arriving by air I have never been asked where I came from. I really can't see how this is an issue.


  6. #6

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    I don't think it would really matter where you enter HK from to activate a work visa.

    The only possible issue I can think of is, since you appear to be from the mainland. Would mainland China let you leave to go work in HK? I'm not sure if this is subject to the one way permit scheme. But I don't know much about this.


  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    When arriving by air I have never been asked where I came from. I really can't see how this is an issue.
    Technically, that is only true for HK residents, I believe. IIRC the form to be filled out by visitors asks for the flight number and the point of origin.

  8. #8

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    But at the point of entry the OP has a HK Visa in his passport and is entering as a resident, through the HK Residents queue and without filling in a landing form, aren't they?

    I'm 99% sure that when Mrs PDLM entered for the first time on her Dependant Visa she did it that way, without a landing form.

    Last edited by PDLM; 30-06-2009 at 07:13 AM.

  9. #9

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    That's a good question, but I'd probably just fill it in regardless.


  10. #10

    Join Date
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    567

    Did you apply for OPT? Or is your OPT expiring?
    I had the same problem. When I applied my employment visa, I stated in the form that I would embark HK from the States. But I didn't know it took so long to get the visa. I was asked to sumbit additional documents twice! I applied the tourist visa before my H1B expired.

    But now I realize that it may be ok to enter HK from the mainland. It is just my guess. When I asked HK immigration department, their reply was just some text copied and pasted from their website.


    Quote Originally Posted by harp2800:
    I will be teaching at HKU and now my employment visa application is
    under consideration. I am a USA F1 student visa holder and the visa
    expires on August 6. I am a recent graduate from a US university. Now I just traveled back to China and will be
    staying here for a while.

    Can I enter HK to take up my appointment at HKU directly from China?
    or Must I enter HK from USA?

    An officer in the HKU human resource department (she is in charge of
    taking care of visa application) advised that in this way "I think it
    is fine for you to enter HK directly from U.S.A., and not from China."

    It sounds so scary that I may need to travel back to USA in early
    August.

    Hope it is not true so that I can enter HK directly from China.

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