Employment - Working Visa Transcript - for those people who prefer to read, rather than watch, the contents of the Hong kong Visa Handbook, we have prepared the following transcript of the A/V dialogue of our presentation Investment Visa - Preparing Your Case

Hong Kong Immigration Department form ID990B is completed by the sponsor to an employment visa (working visa) under the general employment policy. This supports the information provided by the applicant him or herself on the form ID990A. This is a very important document and it should be completed in tandem with the detailed supporting communication referencing a comprehensive submission bundle of documentation and information in support.

In discussing this form, we shall look specifically at the details of the sponsor, the job itself, the financial standing of the proposed employer, the current staffing position of the sponsor, and the declarations to be made and the sponsorship undertaking required.

When the form requests information as to the nature of the business of the sponsoring company because simply state in headline terms, for example, “Aviation”, “Trading”, “Computer Consultancy” and the like as the case may be and then say “please see accompanying letter”. If there is indeed an overseas subsidiary, please complete the section and again state “please refer to the detailed information included on the covering letter.”

In the section where the Immigration Department is seeking to understand how the employee is to be compensated, simply provide the headline information and in the space for fringe benefits, just add “please see the accompanying contract of employment or letter of engagement” as the case may be. Be very careful with the title used as well. Please ensure that it carries the connotation of managerial or supervisory duties.

In the section seeking a description of job duties, we recommend that you simply state, “please see accompanying letter for detailed explanation” in dealing with substantive matters as part of your arguments for the visa approval. This section of the reform is where the rubber hits the road in relation to the approvability test. We highly recommend that you cover all of these points in your arguments in your covering communication and in both sections of the form simply state “please see accompanying cover letter.”

When the form is looking for information on the financial standing of the sponsor, it’s important to include the headline data as far as you possibly can but ensure this is augmented by the detailed financial information to be included as part of the application bundle. If the company is a public company, the financial issues could easily be dealt with by including a copy of the latest annual report to shareholders and in this section then simply state “please see the most recent annual report to shareholders.”

When informing the Immigration Department of the current staffing position of the sponsor, the headline data should be provided in this section of the form ID990B but the data should record exactly with further information being supplied as part of a wider application bundle.

Subsection five serves two purposes in the application consideration process. Firstly, it points to Hong Kong ID a notice that the company is a current sponsor of foreign national employment visa permission and secondly, it points Immigration Department to the direction of the recent prior application, meaning that the supporting documentary evidence to be provided by the sponsor will not be resubmitted all over again.

There are two discrete sections on form ID990B which deal with declarations. The first is included at the bottom of each page, speaking to the truthfulness, correctness and completeness of the information provided and the second is at the end of the form which is where the sponsor agrees to assume responsibility for the cost of repatriating or removing the applicant from Hong Kong if the resident goes awry for any reason.