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Quality Migrant Scheme

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  1. #1

    Quality Migrant Scheme

    Hi Everyone, Happy holidays!!

    I came to HK via Quality Migrant Scheme. My visa will be expired soon, but i have not yet found a job. I have no problems supporting myself and my family for another year or two.

    What are the chances they will extend my visa? if so, for long? a year??

    btw, I am a US citizen.

    Thank you so much for your time.


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jun 2005
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    It seems to depend on which basis you were admitted under QMAS - details here: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Immigration Department


  3. #3

    Hi,
    Thanks for your reply. I should probably state my question more clearly. I was admitted thru "general points test" scheme . I can prove that i have settled in HK, but I can't show that i have contributions to hk as i have not yet landed a job.

    in such a case, will they kind enough to extend my visa ?


  4. #4

    Join Date
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    I honestly don't know - it's quite a new scheme and I haven't seen any reports here of the ease or otherwise with which the visa is renewed. The website says:

    To obtain an extension of stay at the end of the first 12-month period, a person admitted through the General Points Test under the Scheme is required to provide evidence demonstrating to the satisfaction of the Immigration Department that he/she has taken steps to settle in Hong Kong by taking up residence here, e.g. by securing a gainful employment or establishing a business.

    To be eligible for further extension of stay, a person admitted through the General Points Test under the Scheme is required to provide evidence demonstrating to the satisfaction of the Immigration Department that:

    1. he/she has settled in Hong Kong; and
    2. he/she has made contribution to Hong Kong, such as engaging in a graduate, specialist or senior level gainful employment or establishing a business of a reasonable size in Hong Kong.
    So to get your first extension at the end of 12 months you simply need to have settled here. It's the second extension that is more tricky. For most visas the extension at the end of the first 12 months is for either a further 24 or 36 months, so if this is your first 12 months that you are coming to the end of I think you should be OK for this renewal.

  5. #5

    PDLM,
    that's what i was hoping too. Thanks for the confirmation.
    I am doing my renewal at the end of January. I will update this thread with my findings after the interview.


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Gold Coast
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    I'd be interested in this as well - I got the QMAS visa in early June 09 but due to the wife being pregnant and having just given birth we won't actually be ready to "settle" in Hong Kong until March. I don't know whether having spent just 3 months in HKG at renewal will do it but I hope so.

    I have had a company established in HKG for a few years and, though currently dormant, there's some cash left in it so I was going to pay myself a salary for 3 months which together with a tenancy contract (short-term lease) I was hoping would do it at this first renewal. Any thoughts on wther I'm on the right track?


  7. #7

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    As I read the website, simply having demonstrably moved to HK within the first 12 months is sufficient for the first renewal - it's the second renewal which requires you to be contributing significantly by then. So you should be OK.


  8. #8

    Join Date
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    Some official "answers"

    I shot off an email to the friendly Immigration people and post their answers here for posterity. This all relates to the first renewal after the initial 12 months on the QMAs visa:

    1) You and your dependants are required to apply for extension of stay within four weeks before the expiry of the limit of stay if you and your dependants intend to continue residence in Hong Kong.

    2) To obtain an extension of stay at the end of the first 12-month period, a person admitted through the General Points Test under the Scheme is required to provide evidence demonstrating to the satisfaction of the Immigration Department that he/she has taken steps to settle in Hong Kong by taking up residence here, e.g. by securing a gainful employment or establishing a business. Please refer to Guidance Notes of the Scheme for details of the supporting documents.

    3) Applicant who is eligible for extension of stay will normally be granted 24-month of stay in Hong Kong.

    So, still no details on what they actually require other than what was on the website already.


  9. #9

    QMEN Interview

    Quote Originally Posted by orangepineapple:
    Hi Everyone, Happy holidays!!

    I came to HK via Quality Migrant Scheme. My visa will be expired soon, but i have not yet found a job. I have no problems supporting myself and my family for another year or two.

    What are the chances they will extend my visa? if so, for long? a year??

    btw, I am a US citizen.

    Thank you so much for your time.

    Hi,nice to meet you!

    I am an applicant for QMEN too, and in fact I am now preparing for the coming interview.

    So I would ask, as you are successful applicant under this schemet, could you please give me some hints as to how the interview is? For instance, what is the interview like - just 3 hours of waiting for your turn and then 10 minutes going through and verifying your documents?

    Or would the interview itself last three hours from the begining to the end, and you have to be chanllenged by many questions, some of them are even tricky?

    Thanks inadvance for any help in this regard, I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart!

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Gold Coast
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    66

    Maybe it varies from case to case, but in my case it was around 15 minutes of waiting + going through and comparing your original documents with the copies submitted with the initial application. No questions asked. The whole process, including getting the visa stickers, took a little over an hour I think. However, maybe my case was a straightforward one or I got lucky.


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