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Is it possible to survive with a salary of 18.5K?

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  1. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by virago:
    Family, children?

    If by yourself then yes it's fine.
    Currently no famly but I m getting married in the next couple of months..... so hopefully my wife be cmin along...

  2. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by chingleutsch:
    It is certainly enough to survive, but you will need to be very frugal indeed to make any significant savings unless your accommodation will be provided in addition to the stipend.
    It is in your favour that CUHK is out in the New Territories: accommodation is much cheaper than in most of Hong Kong, particularly if you choose a village which does not have direct road access (such as Sheung Wo Che, near Shatin MTR) or at least without direct bus service (like Cheung Shue Tan, down the hill from the road out to Tai Po). Of course, these options mean you need to be prepared to walk further than most people in Hong Kong are willing to do

    Thanks ching...
    :-)

  3. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by gilleshk:
    Median Household income in HK is around 18K and about 30% of the population lives in public housing. You can be comfortable and save money if accommodation is provided. You'll be fine if it isn't as you can get a place for less than 10K in that area however you won't be saving much and you certainly will have to watch your spending.
    Thanks....

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    Mostly, univ wont provide accomodation for familes unless the other half is also a research staff/student. If you are taking your wife, then u may have to look for accomodation outside and not in the campus....Do confirm this beforehand with the residence office...

    akshay_aiish likes this.

  5. #15

    If you are prepared for a tight budget with little or no extravagance, quality eating out and travel.


  6. #16

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    You also need to check if your wife can work on a student's dependent visa.


  7. #17

    Join Date
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    Hi Akshay,
    To go down the dependence pass route, find out whether a PhD Fellow is on an employment visa or a student visa.
    If it's an employment visa, *bingo* she can take up any job.
    If it's a student visa, secure an employment offer anyway and then apply for an exception. Friends of mine did that about 5 years ago, so i'm not sure it is still possible. And considering his cursing it was not easy.

    Either way for the dependence pass, you need to show the immigration department that you both can live from those 18.5k HKD.

    As for the accommodation: at least the HKUST does not allow couples (married or not) in the student apartments and has become much stricter in policing since 2012 when the double cohort of students came in.
    If you are eligible for staff quarters you are lucky. But even then, the number of availbale flats is low and you may have to live off-campus anyway.

    Good luck!


  8. #18

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    Dec 2005
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    PhD fellowship holder gets a student visa..Spouse cannot work unless she gets an offer and prior permission from immd..

    To OP: You will be a research asst from march to july and get admitted to phd in august? Will you be doing a full time PhD or a part time PhD?

    Last edited by shafiq; 27-02-2013 at 12:46 PM.

  9. #19

    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Shafiq - It must be full time if he's getting 18.5k a month.


  10. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by shafiq:
    PhD fellowship holder gets a student visa..Spouse cannot work unless she gets an offer and prior permission from immd..

    To OP: You will be a research asst from march to july and get admitted to phd in august? Will you be doing a full time PhD or a part time PhD?
    Right Shafiq... will be a full time... are u also at CUHK?