When would be a good opportunity for undergoing a Hong Kong visa application? When you have managed to graduate from a Hong Kong educational institution (especially one of the recognized universities), you are actually allowed to start the process to apply and get your visa within six months after your graduation. By doing this, you will not need to first obtain an employment offer. Getting a job offer has always been a much bigger problem than it could have first imagined for some professionals (with past working experience) to get a work visa in HK. By doing this, you are actually fitting yourself well into the IANG program i.e. Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates that is made available by the Hong Kong Immigration Department to foreign students (or students who do not possess HK permanent residence).
If you have unfortunately gone past six months after your graduation without applying or getting a job locally in HK, then you have already missed the good opportunity and aren’t going to be eligible for the IANG program. The next best option that you can possibly take is to really get a job offer from a locally registered HK company, and hope you have passed one of your interviews.
Assume you have taken the IANG route. Usually this is what would happen: For your duration of stay it all depends on your visa. Your visa plus your residence permit will be valid for the initial period which is for one entire year. Should you continue to work for the same employer (i.e. local HK Company), you may apply for a visa extension, and this time you are going to be granted for two years. By the second time you are extending your stay, your visa will be valid for another two years.Usually there may still be a third time when you can extend your visa, andyou should be granted to stay for another three years.
Another approach is technically more difficult. General Employment Policy or GEP is another option for living and working in Hong Kong. This option lets you immigrate to Hong Kong as a skilled migrant whomust possess the right qualifications, skills and experience that are required by Hong Kong’s economy. For GEP, you need to firstget ajob offer when you are applying. The job you have applied for and got accepted must be a vacancy in the first place that fits your skills, qualifications, and work experience.
For GEP, you are allowed to extend your stay in HK for a period of two years. You may extend for a second time. The second time you extend your stay, your visa will be valid for another two years. The third time you extend your visa, you will be allowed for three years.
