RyanLock82

Hi All,

Just after a bit of help. I am a British Citizen, currently living in the UK with my fiance who is from Hong Kong, here on a two year working Visa. Within the next 12 months we intend to move to Hong Kong and I intend to apply for a Dependant Visa.

Obviously my fiance, who will be my 'sponsor', is here with me in the United Kingdom and will be until we move back to Hong Kong. As such she won't have guaranteed employment when we return. Do you know if her parents, who are fully employed Hong Kong residents, living in Tsing Yi, will be able to act as the sponsors / guarantors for me, a UK resident? They also have an apartment that we can live in, so in terms of accommodation we are sorted and would be able to prove this.

Finally, we plan to get Married in Hong Kong and as such I would not be officially my sponsors 'spouse', but long term partner, with plenty of history to support this. Would it be in our interests to register our marriage here in UK in order to get this Visa more easily before we apply?

Any thoughts or tips in the right direction would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Ryan

hong_konger

The main issue is whether you intend to work here. If you don't then its not so much of an issue as you will get (I think) a 3 month stay when you enter with a British passport. You can keep topping this up with cheap visa runs to Macau.

My understanding is that you will only be eligible for a dependent visa if you are married and it will make no difference whether you marry in UK or in HK.

Your girlfriends parents status and availability of an apartment would be irrelevant to your entitlement.

If you plan to work here you will have to get whoever is going to employ you to apply for a work visa.

RyanLock82

Thanks for the reply. I will be looking to live and settle in Hong Kong with my Fiance, so naturally I will want to and need to work, which is why tourist Visa's won't be the way forward. Even though, luckily as a British Citizen I would get 6 months for each visa extension.

Whilst it would be easy for us to register marriage in UK in advance of travelling, it would seem a bit of an anti-climax with plans for a proper wedding in Hong Kong with all of my partners family etc...(we can still have a Wedding Celebration, but not quite the same). But if it is what we need to do in order to meet the Visa requirements, then we have to do it. I just wondered if anyone had any similar experience regarding this and the definition of Spouse?

I do believe that the availabilty of my girlfriends apartment will make a difference in being able to get the dependent Visa, as my girfriend as my sponsor has to prove that she can provide me with living accomodation. It is more the fact that as we are both in UK now and will travel back to Hong Kong together later this year, she won't be earning in Hong Kong at that moment and as such can't prove her affordibility to take care of me. Her parents can afford to take care of both her and me (if needed) and can prove this, and I more just wondered if anyone had experience of this being taken in to consideration? As a like guarantor status?

With regards to the Work Visa, whilst I have abundant work experience, even at Management level but no degree to back this up. So I am unlikely to get a company to Sponsor me from outside of Hong Kong, but on a dependant Visa I would be free to work and believe that I wouldn't struggle to find something when there.

Any further advice would be welcomed.

Thanks

hong_konger

See following link to HK Gov web site which explains the eligibility criteria.

http://www.immd.gov.hk/en/services/h...ility_criteria