Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Topics

General Employment Policy vs Admission Scheme For Mainland Talents & Professionals (GEP vs ASMTP)

Posted in Employment Visas, Musing, Special Programmes, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza /

How Does The Admission Scheme For Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) Differ From GEP? Over 13 years ago, on June 6th, 2013 I was interviewed by five law students from the Chinese University of Hong Kong about my experiences practicing immigration here over the last 20 years. More than 13 years on, in 2026 as I […]

New Graduate Management Trainee Visa? – Can You Get A Hong Kong Employment Visa?

Posted in Employment Visas, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza, Your Question Answered /

Graduate Management Trainee Visa? Graduate Management Trainee Visa – and the question of a foreign national fresh graduate taking up employment in Hong Kong – is a thorny one and much depends on the identity of the employer offering the role and the profile that employer has as an immigration sponsor in Hong Kong. Practice […]

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Share Equity Compensation Suffice Instead of Cash Salary For A Hong Kong Employment Visa?

Posted in Employment Visas, Investment Visas, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza, Your Question Answered /

Share Equity Compensation Suffice Instead of Cash Salary? Will equity compensation suffice instead of cash? To what extent can salary be replaced with performance-based equity compensation in case of a Hong Kong employment visa? No one has asked me this type of question about compensation for employees for about 17 years now so I’m grateful […]

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PRACTICE UPDATE: The GEP Work Visa Policy | A New Era of Skills-Based Immigration

Posted in Employment Visas, Feature Article, Musing, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza /

GEP Work Visa | The General Employment Policy  Enters a New Era of Skills-Based Immigration The Evolving GEP Work Visa Assessment Regime, Technical Professionals Stream and Employer Sponsorship Requirements GEP Work Visa: For more than three decades, the General Employment Policy (GEP work visa) has been one of the principal mechanisms through which Hong Kong […]

Will My Hong Kong Employment Visa be Compromised If I Leave My Job Due to Intolerable Working Conditions?

Posted in Employment Visas, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza, Your Question Answered /

Hong Kong Employment Visa Lost If You Have A Terrible Boss & Want To Leave? What’s The Risk To Your Hong Kong Employment Visa? Should you be worried that your employment visa status in Hong Kong might be undermined if you choose to leave the employ of an unsavoury employer? Practice Update 2026 – This […]

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Considerably Heightened Diligence by ImmD on All Types of Hong Kong Visa Applications

Posted in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Musing, Refusals & Appeals, Sherpa, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza, Visitor Visas /

Updated October 12, 2026.   Heightened ImmD Scrutiny ImmD shifted from a traditional “process and approve” paradigm to an aggressive compliance-and-audit model. This heightened diligence has been driven by several key factors: 1. Abuse of New Talent Schemes: Massive application volumes under the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) and QMAS led to illicit intermediaries selling […]

Can I Set Up A Hong Kong Company, Employ My Business Partner & Sponsor An Employment Visa For Him?

Posted in Employment Visas, Investment Visas, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza, Your Question Answered /

PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: This piece explores the common strategy where one partner incorporates a company to hire their co-founder under an employment visa rather than an investment visa. While the advice historically warned that ImmD scrutinizes “new business situations” and checks whether the […]

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Lame Excuses Won’t Cut It If You’re Caught Working In Hong Kong Without An Employment Visa

Posted in Employment Visas, Feature Article, Investment Visas, Musing, Refusals & Appeals, Special Programmes, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza, Visitor Visas /

Caught Working in Hong Kong Without an Employment Visa? If you’re working in Hong Kong  (paid, unpaid or temporarily transferred in) but do not have an employment visa sponsored by your current employer you are breaking the law and could be subject to 3 years imprisonment and/or up to a HKD350,000 fine. The law is very […]

Can I Sponsor Myself For Freelance Work ‘On-the-Side’ Whilst Working For My Current Hong Kong Employment Visa Sponsor?

Posted in Employment Visas, Investment Visas, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza, Your Question Answered /

This is joining in a side business albeit in another name…and a solution for certain types of Hong Kong Employment Visa holders thinking about freelancing in Hong Kong PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: The advice regarding securing ImmD permission to “join in a side business” under Section […]

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How Hard Is It To Transfer From A Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa To A Full Employment Visa?

Posted in Employment Visas, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza, Your Question Answered /

You know how it is… you arrive in Hong Kong for a year of fun and adventure and then you want to stay… This article deals with the transfer from a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa to a full Employment Visa. QUESTION Hi there! I’m an Australian citizen in Hong Kong, working under a working holiday visa […]

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