New Content Daily Sign Up Here

Can you realistically expect to work for yourself if your employment permissions have been granted under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG)?

QUESTION

Hi Stephen, thanks a lot for answering the questions on this website.

I must say that all the information on visageeza.com is of immense value.

I would like to pose a question regarding the Immigration Arrangement for Non-local Graduates (“IANG”) visa renewal.

Currently I am on an IANG visa which has been sponsored by my current employer.

I would like to know that shortly after the IANG visa has been granted (say few days or weeks after the approval), can I change my job or leave my job for whatever reason and start my own freelance consulting?

Is it really something permissible in the eyes of the immigration?

My second question is linked with my first one.

Let’s say if I leave my job and after leaving my job I cross the seven year mark, what impact would this have on my Right of Abode application?

I would really appreciate your help on this matter.

Thanks a lot.

ANSWER

To maintain your immigration status under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG), each time you present yourself for an extension of stay, you need to have a valid employer, and you need to be able to demonstrate to the Immigration Department that you’re being paid a compensation that’s broadly commensurate with market rates and that you are engaged in that work that’s related in some way to your education and background.

Moreover, the sponsoring employer needs to be suitable and credible, all things considered. So, you can essentially get yourself an extension under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG) sponsored by a current employer, and then you could cease working for that current employer and then conceptually you could start to engage in your own freelance activities.

Whether or not the immigration department would deem your freelance activities to be sufficiently suitable at the time that your next IANG application came up for consideration is another matter, again, because the Immigration Department in those circumstances expect you to have established a sizable business, which for all practical purposes means you need to pass the approvability test to show that you can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong.

And in that regard, I’d suggest that you read the information on our websites about the business investment visa, because it’s no small challenge to be able to secure ongoing sponsorship in Hong Kong under the basis of your own, in a sense, freelance activities. So that answers the first part of your question, insofar as the second part of your question goes, let’s set the scene.

For example, let’s say that you’ve been here under continuous residence visa permissions for six and a half years, and that your current IANG visa has just recently been extended and you’ve secured a one year limit of stay, which is then going to take you conceptually to a full seven and a half years worth of continuous ordinary residence in Hong Kong, holding back to back residence visas throughout all of this time.

So at the point of seven years, of course you can make your application for the Right of Abode and at that point you have to show that you have been continuously a resident in Hong Kong for those seven years. There is no inquiry as to what you are doing in relation to your existing employment.

The Immigration Department will want to see that you do have a valid period of stay under employment status and they will typically not look for confirmation as to how you are gainfully spending your time under your twelve months of Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates.

Therefore, conceptually it might be that you can get to seven years by having extended your immigration arrangements for Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates visa and then gone off and freelance for a few months before making the Right of Abode application. And because at the time that you get your Right of Abode application approved, all conditions are lifted as to your continuing residence in Hong Kong.

You would then typically not be called to account for any time that you spent under Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates whilst you were freelancing as such. So that’s the upshot of it and I hope you found that useful.

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!

More Stuff You May Find Useful Or Interesting

What Pathways To An Employment Visa Exist For A Fresh, Foreign University Graduate Arriving In Hong Kong Seeking Career Opportunities Here?

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

Fresh Graduates, Working Holiday Visas & The Chances Of A Hong Kong Employment Visa Subsequently

Am I Allowed To Work Full Time Even Though I Only Have A One Year Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa?

How To Get A Hong Kong Working Visa Automatically – With No Questions Asked!

PODCAST ANSWER

Podcast: Play in new window