The Immigration department is very clear about what you can and cannot do when it comes to employment while on a student visa. Here are the details, including some new rules. Anything else would be illegal and can lead to huge fines for you and the employer, as well as you being deported, so why risk it?
Q20:What is the further relaxation of employment restriction for non-local students which comes into effect from 17 March 2014?
A20:
Under Regulation 2 of the Immigration Regulations, Cap 115A, permission given to a person to land in Hong Kong as a student shall be subject to the conditions of stay that, inter alia, he/she shall not take any employment, whether paid or unpaid. The restriction in respect of internship and part-time employment for non-local students has been further relaxed from 17 March 2014 onwards. Non-local students of full-time locally-accredited local or non-local programmes at undergraduate level or above whose study period is not less than one academic year may take up internship subject to the following conditions:
The internships must be study/curriculum-related and be arranged or endorsed by the institutions they are studying in; and
The duration of the internship is up to one academic year, or one-third of the normal duration of the relevant full-time academic programme, whichever is the shorter.
There is no restriction on the nature of work, level of salary, location, number of working hours and employers for the internship arrangements.
As regards non-local students enrolled in full-time locally-accredited sub-degree local programmes with a study period not less than 2 academic years, they may also apply to take up an internship if the following conditions are met:
the internship must be mandatory, study/curriculum-related and be arranged / endorsed by the institutions they are studying in; and
the duration of the internship is up to 6 months.
Moreover, non-local students (excluding exchange students) of full-time locally-accredited local programmes at undergraduate level or above whose study period is not less than one academic year may, during the currency of their limit of stay take up:
part-time on-campus employment for not more than 20 hours per week throughout the year; and
employment during the summer months without any limit in relation to working hours and location.