Getting in the Hong Kong club

[Iamfan]

Hello everybody,

I'm a 27-year-old Dutch guy seeking employment in Hong Kong. I have 2 degrees (BA Computer Science + MSc Mediatechnology), 2 years of work-experience, and am mainly applying for 3 types of jobs: English teacher, web designer and copywriter.

My girlfriend (Filipino) already works and lives in HK, thus stating the reason for this whole enterprise .

Sending out my resume and cover letters doesn’t really seem to be effective, since I have no replies as of yet. I am going to apply through the Quality Migrant Scheme (I score 90 on the points-based-system), but my instinct tells me this can be a very tedious, long procedure.

I was wondering what the advice could be. Go to Hong Kong for a month and aggressively try to secure a job (including sponsorship)? Go for a dependant visa through civil marriage? Keep on applying from Holland and hope for an employment visa before I come there?

Any advice would be extremely welcome!

Thanks heaps!
Mike
>> michiel.waaijer@gmail.com

[gilleshk]

As with most things in life, you likely won't get anywhere unless you put in some face time.

Check out the NET scheme with the Education bureau, that's your best bet in the short term.

[leghk]

English teacher - highly unlikely to get a job without a teaching qualification - minimum Dip TEFL/TESOL etc

Civil marriage? - dependent visa is only available to legally married couples (not sure if this is what you meant). Also depends on the occupation of your partner. They have to fulfill certain requirements including earning enough money to support you whilst you are here.


I would say the best chance of success is to get out here for a month, and at worst you can spend some time with your gf.

[Iamfan]

Thanks for the replies guys!

A couple more questions:

1) Is it easy to transfer a tourist-visa to an employment-visa?
2) Do I need to leave HK again when I receive a employment-visa?
3) In general: in what field do HK companies need (English-speaking) foreigners? Is the creative industry (advertising, arts, media) willing to hire expats?

Anyone who adeptly answers these questions: I'll buy a few beers for ya when I'm there!

Thanks!

[Midori]

HI..
I have an answer for your question #2.
Yes you need to leave hong kong to activate working visa..but you can just easily go to macau which takes 1 hr to get there...

[Iamfan]

Awesome. That's one beer for you

A follow-up to that question: Did you - or do you know other people who did - come to HK on a one-way ticket? I'm assuming you cannot enter HK without a returnflight? Or did you take a risk, and booked a one-way ticket to HK and a one-way ticket to Macau (assuming landing a job(+visa) within the month). In short: which ticket is advisable for the "going-to-HK-on-tourist-visa-finding-work" method...

Thanks again!
Mike.

[hello_there]

Actually you do not always have to leave HK to get a work visa 'activated' if you enter on a toursit visa. I didn't. Just had my secretary go to immigration and explain that I needed to start working asap and they 'activated' my visa. I didn't even need to be present. This seems to be normal procedure for people hired by my company who come over to get housing, etc. sorted out before they start their jobs and get their work visas finalised.

[via]

For your First question, as long as you can find a company here willing to sponser you transferring of visa is not a problem.

Second question I don’t think you need to leave but worst come to worst just spend sometime in Macau, that is the least of your worries.

Now comes the most important thing, HK companies do need English speaker in all sorts of fields, most common are teaching, press release, legal etc. As for industry willing to hire expats, that really depends on the company, however I must say that web designer do not get paid well in HK.

You can try the following web sites to search for jobs before heading to HK.

On Geo -> Classified -> jobs
Job search, talent recruit & career resources | JobsDB Hong Kong
www.classifiedpost.com

Or try some agencies (you can find them in classifiedpost or jobsdb), please note that they take time to get back to you.

[FilipH]

Awesome. That's one beer for you

A follow-up to that question: Did you - or do you know other people who did - come to HK on a one-way ticket? I'm assuming you cannot enter HK without a returnflight? Or did you take a risk, and booked a one-way ticket to HK and a one-way ticket to Macau (assuming landing a job(+visa) within the month). In short: which ticket is advisable for the "going-to-HK-on-tourist-visa-finding-work" method...

Thanks again!
Mike.

No need to book a return flight, just fly to HK and you'll get a stamp in your passport which allows you to stay 90 days in Hongkong as a tourist. Like me (Belgium), you'll get 90 days and not a month!

Maak je geen zorgen, het is eenvoudig om Hongkong binnen te komen met enkel je reispas als je van de EU bent. Men zal je zelfs niets vragen aan de grens. Ik ga al 4 jaar naar China via Hong Kong en nog nooit vroeg men me om mijn eindbestemming of return ticket.

Ze plaatsen gewoon 2 stempels, en dat is het.

Werk vinden zal niet zo gemakkelijk zijn, maar je kan hier wel 3 maanden lang zoeken ...

[leghk]

No need to book a return flight, just fly to HK and you'll get a stamp in your passport which allows you to stay 90 days in Hongkong as a tourist. Like me (Belgium), you'll get 90 days and not a month!



...

Depends on the airline, some will refuse to carry you without an onward/return ticket.