Is it Ever Possible to Extend a Hong Kong Training Visa?
Posted in Employment Visas, Hadley Says…, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza /
An application to enter Hong Kong for a limited period of training (meaning not more than 12 months) to acquire or deliver special skills and knowledge not available in the applicant’s country or the sponsoring company may be favourably considered if:
1. There is no security objection and the applicant has no known record of serious crime.
2. His or her bona fides and those of the sponsoring company are satisfied.
3. The sponsoring company well‐established, capable of providing the proposed training.
4. There is a contract in place in regard to the training proposed.
5. The sponsoring company guarantees in writing the maintenance and repatriation of the applicant and that the applicant will receive training in the sponsor’s premises until the end of the agreed period, after which the applicant will return to his/her place of residence; and
6. The proposed duration and content of the training programme can be justified.
The question is begged, therefore, if a training visa can be extended when it comes up for expiry?
The short answer is usually no.
Training visas are special, limited purpose employment visas and the nature of the approval essentially sets the scene definitively for what you can do whilst you hold one.
The Hong Kong ID almost always hold the applicant and the sponsoring company to the terms of their undertaking in respect of the length of the period of stay requested when the training visa was granted and, apart from a very short additional extension of time (say up to a maximum of one additional month for a good reason) when the training project is over, it’s time for the training visa holder to comply with the terms of his undertaking and leave Hong Kong.
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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.
