Moving to HK..

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    May 2009
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    Moving to HK..

    Greetings from the land down under!

    Moving to Hong Kong, where i plan on teaching English at first and attending part time university. My main question is i have an impressive background yet no bachelors degree, can i find work teaching English in HK? My secondary question what university has the best reputation for economics/commerce/finance degree. Last and not least how can i gain permanent residency in HK. Need your insight please help! This is my story..

    I am 24 years of age live in Queensland, Australia and have spent the last six years working for the same financial institution in Australia. I have numerous high school and academic co-curricular achievements, such as, high OP rating, first place for debating at GPS level (Maughn House Prize), Gold Coast Junior City Councilor, Student Representative Councilor, Global Young Leaders Conference USA, Round Square Representative and was even a House Captain and prefect.

    I also have various certificates etc from working such as Cert 4 in finance, MFAA & FBAA membership, Accredited Mortgage Consultant and Cert 4 in IT. When it comes to my work i am extremely dedicated and put in long hours and also run several of my own business ventures from home. Some would say i am a work-a-holic.

    I have consistently worked my way up through the ranks and have gained management status within my company. Somehow i was able to maintain employment throughout the financial crisis here in Australia. Recently my employer presented me with a three year contract to continue working, unfortunately for them i have out grown the company and wish to broaden my horizons and obtain a university degree. Furthermore i have spent the last ten years of my life working on several businesses of my own.

    HK is the perfect place for me for to keep learning and growing. However lucrative my contract offer is i just cannot accept plateauing for the next 3-5 years. Therefore i have decided i would prefer to make significantly less money, initially, and have the chance to learn Chinese and make it big in HK either working my way up the corporate ladder or risking most my money on a new business venture in HK within the finance sector. My logic behind this is that while I am young I need to take high risks in life and really throw myself in the deep end, while i still have time to correct my mistakes.

    I have read heaps about TEFL and TESOL certs and will be obtaining one shortly another attempt to better my chances in finding employment. In an attempt to get a head start i have started learning Mandarin with a personal instructor. As you can see i am dedicated and want to reside in HK although would prefer to study in HK and not here at home, i wish to meet people, network and learn Mandarin/Cantonese.

    Please any feedback would be great!!!


  2. #2

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    Jun 2005
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    The biggest issue you have is a visa.

    You can't just roll up in a foreign country and move in.

    Generally speaking, Visas are only issued for one specific purpose: Employment or Study are the two main ones (alternatives involve investing substantial amounts of money which I assume are not relevant here).

    To gain Permanent Residency here you need to secure some kind of visa and then reside here for 7 years continuously.

    Since you are aged under 30 then, as an Australian, you could apply for a Working Holiday Visa. This would allow you to do short term work and study freely, although not, I think, a full time undergraduate degree.

    I think the only way to do a full time degree is with a Study Visa. Getting one of these shouldn't be too hard if you can get an offer of a place at a local university. The best one for economics, business and management is HKUST, although I'm not sure to what extent HK universities generally welcome mature students on their undergraduate courses. If you have a Study Visa then you are able to do a limited amount of part-time work, but with restrictions. See Paras 20-22 of the Guidebook for this type of visa.

    To start your own business you would need an Investment Visa, for which you would need to be able to show a credible business plan which would extend to employing locals and adding value to the local economy. Also amongst the criteria is

    the applicant has a good education background, normally a first degree in the relevant field, but in special circumstances, good technical qualifications, proven professional abilities and/or relevant experience and achievements supported by documentary evidence may also be accepted
    which you may or may not feel you can achieve.

    Note also that this town has a huge surfeit of people trying to sell financial services, mortgages and so on. They are the bane of many an expat's life, and the best way to get the whole party to move to the other end of the room is to tell someone that is what you do, so you'll have to lead some sort of double life to have much social life (except with others of your type).

    Hope that helps.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    May 2009
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    6

    Thank you so much =)

    Thank you for your swift and informative reply! I had a look at the Investment Visa on the immigration website and i think i may meet the 'special circumstances' requirements as my net assets are strong and i would be contributing significantly to the economy. Just need to nut out a great plan!

    I laughed when you spoke about the 'double life' and can completely understand why everyone would move to the other side of the room. In fact it is very much the same in Australia and for that reason i try never to mix business with pleasure and have always had two separate networks. I found the best way to get referrals was always to provide the low rates with high quality service and would just work harder and fight to get deals.

    I want out of the finance broking world as it seems there is a shift more towards major bigger banks. In time this will change as we go through the up-down cycles of the global economy. Although at the moment i think it is the best time to put my head down and obtain a degree as a contingency plan. I am in the process of selling all my Australian businesses so i can focus on the one job and university.

    Furthermore it was my plan to buy a property in HK and was looking at purchasing a free standing home in New territories. This is a direct injection of cash into the country and i see this as an investment. Although the government may not see this as an investment unless i use a certain percentage of the property for investment purposes. I read somewhere that if i have a minimum net asset value of 6.5 Million HKD and meet a few other requirements i will be accepted.

    Now the university part does sound a little bit more difficult as i do not know how they go accepting people of my age into undergraduate programs. Perhaps i may have to make a submission and just go straight for the MBA based on my history and success in business.

    Cheers again PDLM very informative!

    P.s. Not sure if this helps or not... my fiancee was born in Beijing and her family still resides in China. I am assuming this is of no benefit to me, when it comes to visas as she is from China and not HK. She speaks fluent English/Japanese/Cantonese/Mandarin and already has post graduate degree in a scientific/medical field with six years working experience with the same company therefore she should have no problems getting work and visas.


  4. #4

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    That would be another option then: get married, she gets a visa and you come in as her dependent. Allows you scope to do anything.


  5. #5

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    Ah yes, I assumed, wrongly it seems that at 24 you wouldn't have achieved that yet, but yes, if you have (and have had for the last two years) HK$6.5M in assets which you can transfer to investments in HK (property, stocks etc) then you could apply under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme. Simply buying a property (for cash) valued at over HK$6.5M will suffice I believe.

    Experience reported in these forums is that it does take many months to get through the approval process though.

    Last edited by PDLM; 14-05-2009 at 08:59 AM.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    That would be another option then: get married, she gets a visa and you come in as her dependent. Allows you scope to do anything.
    As a Chinese resident it would be hard, but if she has permanent residence somewhere else as well as China then she could apply under the normal Employment Visa scheme. But she needs the job offer first - the Visa is linked to a specific job.

    And you would need to be married to get a Dependant Visa.

  7. #7

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    May 2009
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    Thanks

    Well i just did a 36 hour long stint working straight on the computer researching this and working on my newest venture while i am in Tokyo at the moment. I am wrecked and i was not going to sleep until i had solved this problem thanks to you PDLM !!! ZZZZZzzzzzZZZZ bed time i think...hope i didn't type to many mistakes.

    Oh no wait, before i go though i have one more question:

    Once i have visa and am on the ground in HK will i find it difficult getting a teaching job without degree? I will have the TEFL course completed. If i simply cannot get a job teaching anywhere because i need the degree and do not have it yet. Then what other work could i do 30-40 a week to bring in some extra cash and keep me occupied.

    thanks to hullexile loved your comment!!


  8. #8

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    Which type of visa? The only types of visa where you would get the visa first and the job second are Dependant Visa (your wife gets an Employment Visa and you come here as her dependant) or the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme.

    For Employment Visas you must find the job first - the visa is linked to a specific job, and that is all you may do.
    For Investment Visas you must work on the business in which you are investing.
    For Study Visas you can't generally take the sort of teaching work you describe.


  9. #9

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    May 2009
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    Capital Investment Scheme

    I am talking about the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme. I would much prefer to do it that way as it was my intention of spending more than that amount on a house anyway.

    It comes down to an opportunity cost:

    A. Buy expensive free standing house with cash (i am guessing you cannot borrow against the property if you are using the scheme, is this correct as i would love to know). Teach a bit of English and study.

    Or B. Buy or rent a simplex the size of a shoe box, literally speaking when you compare my home in Oz to the average sized 1 bedder in HK would say over 60 X the size. Then Inject money, into creating a new business venture in HK and make that my focal point.


  10. #10

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    A. Correct - it has to be your money, not a bank's.

    B. For CEIS you need to invest in certain asset classes. If you simply want to invest as necessary in building a business then that needs an Investment Visa (and you need to be able to demonstrate how you will add value to the local economy and employ local people). Investment Visas need to be renewed every year or two and you need to be able to demonstrate delivery against the plan.

    In either case, reports here suggest that CEIS or Investment Visas take several months to get through the approval process, so bear that in mind in your planning.


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