Immigration issue - husband sponsoring me

V

Vix

Registered User
Hi All,

I haven't been able to find the answers to these questions during a brief look at the immigration website. Can anyone help ?

My husband has HK residency (as an expat) and I am moving out to HK to join him with a newborn in July. The visa lady at his work says that it is easier to apply for residency once you are in HK, so has advised that both myself and the baby enter the country as tourists and apply for a proper visa at a later date.

- How long will it take to get residency visas and will the baby qualify for state health care on a tourist visa (I doubt it) ?

- Is it even possible to arrange residency visas before entering the country ?

- Will will need to do a visa run to convert our tourist visas to proper ones ?

Many thanks,

Vicky
 
Hi

u can actually come to HK on tourist visa and then apply for Resident visa but immigrations often u that it is better that you rhusband apply for your visa before u come to HK. It takes about 4-6 weeks before the visa is issued. I applied my sons visa as he was not born in HK They gave to me in 11 days. As long as your husband has al the papers like Marriage certificate, Birth Certificate of you child, His company letter sponsoring him, His appartment lease etc there should be no problem. HK immigration is the best in the world. straight to the point.

Regarding govt assistance for your child. As soon as your son gets his resident visa u enjoy Medical assiatance. You just nee dto take his passport with u and the copy of visa stamped at the passport

I hope the above is helpful
 
it is very easy for you to get the dependent visa(there is no such thing as residency visa). i'd apply before you come. then you have no worries. once you have the dependent visa then you can work and you and baby both are ok for using the public health system. if you enter on a tourist visa, it will just mean a trip to immigration to convert it to a dependent visa, i don't think you need to run to Macau. it is really so straight forward, you're hubby should do it before you come.

this however does NOT apply if you are (originally) from mainland CHINA.... they have totally different rules and it is nearly impossible to get a dependent visa.
 
Thank you both.

We are both British, so the mainland China issue is not a problem.

I have just realised that as my baby isn't born yet and won't be until a couple of weeks before I leave for Hong Kong, its birth certificate will probably not be ready in time for the application. Although I guess we could courier it to HK as soon as it has been created.

I would prefer to enter HK as a dependent, rather than a tourist, but time constraints may not allow this.

I appreciate your replies though.

V
 
Won't baby need a passport to travel? Don't you need a birth certificate to get a passport?
 
good points rani... perfectly correct. you can't travel without a passport and as far as i know every passport for a child requires a birth cert.
 
Yes, he or she will need a passport, but we will be getting this in the UK a week after he / she has been born. As I understand it, the birth certificate would be needed by HK immigration before we arrive in HK in order to enter as a dependent rather than a tourist. If it takes a few days to get it to HK by courier and 11 days or so to grant the visa, that will be too late for us.
 
what we don't understand is...how can you get a passport without already having the birth cert?
 
It might be more work but you could consider getting a dependent visa for yourself before arriving (this might make you feel more comfortable when you arrive) and then applying for your baby once you are here. Even with the dependent visa you will need to go and get an ID card once you arrive.

I had my third child in England and it was really easy to get the documents he needed once we arrived in Hong Kong. On entry he was given a tourist visa for three months. I had to go down to the immigration and get him the correct documents. The woman who served me was very kind and made an early appointment because I had the baby with me.

When you go to the local medical clinics in Hong Kong they will ask for the mother or father?s ID card/passports rather than the baby?s. Babies are given 42 days to register in Hong Kong (and only get ID cards at 11 years old) and so often the babies have no documents when they first go to the clinic.

Another issue you might not know about is getting a BCG injection for your baby. All newborns have this in Hong Kong because tuberculosis is so common here. Babies have to have this within 21 days of birth or they have to have addition tests. You might want to discuss this with the baby?s doctor before you come.

Best wishes with everything,
Barb
 
We won't be able to get a passport without having a birth certificate.
It looks like our time scales will be :

In the UK....
- Get birth certificate a few days after baby is born
- Take certificate to passport office and leave with them for 1 week
- Get passport & birth certificate back after 1 week

This will leave us with 4 or 5 days before we leave for Hong Kong. If we courier the birth certificate and forms to HK immigration, which might take 3 or 4 days to arrive, they will only have 1 day to process the application and give the baby a visa before we arrive !

It looks like a tourist visa will be our only option :-(
 
Thanks for your message Barb, it is very helpful. I think we will take up your suggestion.

This site is a Godsend !

Vicky
 
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