Moving to HK in August 2009

[towelrod]

Moving to HK with my wife, mother-in-law, and 2 year old. We are looking for a place near HKU--either Pokfulam or Mid-Levels. We'd like to get a 3 bedroom flat. For those with children, would you recommend Pokfulam or Mid-Levels? We won't be making a trip out to HK before we move so any information about specific buildings in either Pokfulam or Mid-Levels would be very much appreciated.

Thanks! We are looking forward to moving to HK!

[PDLM]

What's your budget?

And just out of curiosity, is one of you a HK Permanent Resident? If not then are you sure your mother-in-law will be able to get a visa to reside here?

[towelrod]

We poked around on some of the real estate websites--does 25k a month sound reasonable?

My wife will have a work visa and I will work remotely from HK for my US company based in the US. My mother-in-law will stay with us for a few months and travel back and forth to the US.

Thanks!

[PDLM]

$25K is reasonable, but remember that a 3 bedroom place in that price range is likely to be not much more than 1000 sq.ft. You get more for you money in Pokfulam, but depending on where your wife will be working, she may have more of a commute. The normal recommendation is to get a serviced apartment for the first 2-4 weeks here to have a good look round before you pick an area or an apartment. Remember that apartment leases are almost always with a minimum term of 12-14 months so mistakes made at a distance can be painful.

For the visas then you (and your son) will get Dependant Visas (which your wife can apply for at the same time as her Employment Visa, and you are then free to work. But bear in mind that you will be liable to HK Salary Tax on your income.

Your mother-in-law (assuming on a US passport) will get a 3 month visitor visa on arrival and she probably wont have much trouble going to Macau/Shenzhen an coming back to extend for one or two more 3 month spells. But at some point (undefined, at the discretion of the individual Immigration officer) Immigration would tell her to go away for a longer period.

[Sleuth]

Your mother-in-law (assuming on a US passport) will get a 3 month visitor visa on arrival and she probably wont have much trouble going to Macau/Shenzhen an coming back to extend for one or two more 3 month spells. But at some point (undefined, at the discretion of the individual Immigration officer) Immigration would tell her to go away for a longer period.

Or perhaps you can arrange with immigration for a 3 DAY visa.
Moving across the world with your mother-in-law must be worth a ton of cosmic bonus points.