Can You Leave Hong Kong to Pursue an MBA Overseas & Not Lose Your Continuity of Ordinary Residence if You Intend to Go On to Secure the Right of Abode in Hong Kong?
Posted in Employment Visas, Long Stay & PR, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza, Your Question Answered /
Right of abode in Hong Kong – the issues associated with studying overseas whilst, ostensibly, remaining resident here for work purposes…
QUESTION
I have been a HK resident since December 2010, and my plan has always been to remain here until I get the right of abode in Hong Kong.
However, I am now considering furthering my education and I am going to apply for an MBA in Europe. If admitted, I would need to start the program in August 2016, which would mean leaving Hong Kong way before the deadline for permanent residency.
My current work visa won’t expire until April 2017, so on that side I am covered, but by August 2017 I would have been away from Hong Kong more than six months and my work visa will have expired well before then too.
I could come back then to apply for the residency but as I would be studying in Europe at the time, how can I argue that I plan to make Hong Kong my home?
What options do I have?
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The Hong Kong Visa Geeza (a.k.a Stephen Barnes) is a co-founder of the Hong Kong Visa Centre and author of the Hong Kong Visa Handbook. A law graduate of the London School of Economics, Stephen has been practicing Hong Kong immigration since 1993 and is widely acknowledged as the leading authority on business immigration matters here for the last 24 years.
