Help! 27 weeks pregnant when arriving in HK - waiting lists for public hospitals?

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pingpangqiu

New member
Dear all,

My wife (from the Chinese mainland who has lived in the UK for the last 3 years) will arrive in HK when she is 27 weeks pregnant on a Tourist visa while waiting for my work visa (I'm a British national that is starting a new job in HK) and her dependant visa to be processed. At the very latest we should have obtained the visas by the 2nd week in October.

I have three questions:

1. If my wife receives her dependant visa say on the 14th October and is due to give birth on the 4th December does she still have enough time to register at a public hospital?

2. If the baby is born prematurely before/after she obtains the dependant visa is she still able to use public hospitals to give birth? probably a stupid question but I just want to cover all bases.

3. My wife and I plan to live on the East of the Island somewhere between North Point and Chai Wan. Do you know which is the closest public hospital(s) in this area? I've heard lots of good things about Queen Mary's/Elizabeth on this forum.

Thanks very much for your help.
 
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there are no "waiting lists" for public hospitals. if your wife shows up in labour, they will admit her and she can give birth in a public hospital.

the differences between having a visa and not having a visa will be:
(1) price
(2) status of baby (possible, not sure how it all works with a mainland mother)

if you are in North Point, Chai Wan, the closest hospital is Pamela Youde Nethersole
 
If your wife is mainland chinese citizenship and baby is born in HK, baby will get HK PR for status. She does need HKID in order to get the locals price (of 100hkd per day!)
 
1. That's enough time and should be fine, but I would make sure that she tries to see a doctor at the public clinic beforehand, just to make it all easier. After she gets her dependent visa, I don't think it takes that long to get the HKID from my memory. Like Carang said, the public hospitals won't turn you away no matter what - it's just a matter of how much it would cost up front.
2. If the baby comes early but the paperwork is in process and she is technically legitimate, you would still have to pay the 'mainlanders' fee of around $50K but if you applied later you would be reimbursed. This is what was explained to me as I was in a similar situation right before I moved to HK. I would call the hospital authority to get the direct facts, though.
 
Thanks a lot everyone for your advice. As suggested I will phone one or two hospitals to confirm 100% their policy.

Any idea how long it takes to transfer a dependant visa to a HKID?

Thanks again :)
 
you may not need to call the hospitals, but most maybe the hospital authority? if they are public hospitals, they will all have the same policies and procedures.

you DO NOT "transfer" a dependent visa to a HKID. you take the passport with the visa in it (on the same day you get it, even!) to another floor in immig tower. they will begin processing hte HKID then and there. they will give you a temporary paper that acts as your HKID. your actual card will be ready in about 2 weeks? you can use that paper they gave you in the meantime
 
Ah yes, the temp paper is what I was thinking of. If you only have that, you have to pay in the public system, but then once you get your real ID you can apply to be reimbursed.
 
Thanks both of you for the information. A stupid question but worth a try! If you only have a Tourist visa when you give birth in HK then get a dependant visa say a month after the give birth I imagine you can't apply to be reimbursed?

Many thanks
 
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