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WORKING IN HONG KONG

 
 

Visa Application

Employment Visa

If you do not have the right of abode or right to land in Hong Kong, you are required to obtain an employment visa before coming to Hong Kong to take up your appointment. You may also need to apply for dependant or student visas, as appropriate, in respect of your dependants, if any. The University will be the sponsor of your employment visa application and you will be the sponsor of your dependants.

Under the existing immigration policy, even if a person has obtained an employment visa to work in Hong Kong, he/she is only permitted to take up employment with the sponsoring organization as specified and cannot take up other employment without having obtained the prior permission from the Director of Immigration. Therefore, you are required to make an application to the Director of Immigration as soon as possible if you are holding an employment visa sponsored by another organization, and let the Appointments Unit of the Human Resource Section have a copy of the formal endorsement once it is available and before you assume duty.

As the Hong Kong Immigration Department normally takes about two months for processing a visa application, you are advised to send the appropriate visa application form(s) to the Appointments Unit of the Human Resource Section for onward transmission to the Immigration Department as soon as possible and well in advance of your intended date of travel to Hong Kong, together with supplementary documents. If the employment visa is not issued in time, you should not come to Hong Kong on the more easily obtainable tourist visa or by taking advantage of visa-free entry as a visitor. It is important to note that failure to obtain an employment visa means that your contract of employment will be invalidated, and accordingly you will not be permitted to work in Hong Kong. Please also note that the visa fee should be borne by the applicant in normal circumstances and the visa label(s) will be sent to you by registered mail once ready. Please be reminded to attach your visa label in your passport and show it to the Immigration Office at the customs upon your arrival in Hong Kong, and send a copy of your employment visa, via your Department, on your date of assumption of duty to the Human Resource Section for formal record.

Dependant Visa

If you are holding a dependant visa (except that there is ‘condition of stay’ stated in your visa), you may take up employment in Hong Kong without seeking prior permission from the Immigration Department. Further information on dependant visa is available at the website of the Immigration Department.

Residence Visa

Individuals who do not have the right of abode or right of land in Hong Kong may enter or stay in Hong Kong without securing an offer of local employment via the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme. Those who have obtained a degree or higher qualification in a full-time and locally-accredited programme in Hong Kong (non-local graduates) may apply to stay/return and work in Hong Kong under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG).

For more updated information about Immigration Policy on Employment in Hong Kong, please refer to the Immigration Department website.

Visa Extension

If your visa will expire prior to the end date of your appointment, the continuation of your appointment beyond your visa expiry date is subject to your obtaining an extension of the appropriate visa from the Hong Kong Immigration Department. The Personnel Unit of the Human Resource Section will arrange to issue to you a certifying letter stating your appointment position and remuneration, to support your application for the extension of stay. It is important to note that appointees who do not possess an extended visa will not be permitted to work in Hong Kong. According to the Inland Revenue Ordinance, they will be deemed to have left Hong Kong and their salaries have to be temporarily withheld. You are kindly requested to send a certified true copy of your extended visa to the Appointments Unit of the Human Resource Section, via your Department, as soon as it is available.

You are advised to submit your application within 4 weeks before your limit of stay expires. Application details are available here.

Taxation

Once you are employed, you will be chargeable to salaries tax on your income arising in or derived from Hong Kong from any employment, office, and pension. If you receive a “Tax Return-Individuals” from the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), you must complete and submit it by the due date for filing even if you have no income that can be charged to salaries tax. It is the employee’s obligation to pay the tax at the specified time after you receive your notice of assessment. If you do not receive a “Tax Return-Individuals”, you should notify the IRD that your income could be chargeable to tax. More details can be found at the Inland Revenue Department website.
 
The Finance and Enterprises Office (FEO) of the University will file the Employer’s Return of Remuneration and pensions (Annual Tax Return) to IRD on staff members’ earnings after the end of the year of assessment (which runs from April 1 of the previous year to March 31 of the current year).
 
In order to assist you to complete your “Tax Return-Individuals”, a copy of the Annual Tax Return will be made available on your HKU Portal. You may view or print your Annual Tax Return via “Self Service > Finance & Enterprises Office > Annual Tax Return”. An announcement will be made by the FEO when the Annual Tax Return is ready on your HKU Portal, usually at the end of April. Enquiries on Annual Tax Return can be directed to the FEO by e-mail to feo-payroll@hku.hk.

Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF)

An appointee aged between 18 and 65 who is employed for 60 days or more must enrol in the University’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Scheme unless he/she is an exempt person under the provisions of the MPF Schemes Ordinance. The University will make mandatory contributions in accordance with the MPF Schemes Ordinance in respect of the appointee and in relation to the period of employment under the contract.

Examples of exempt persons who are not required to join an MPF Scheme include:

a) Appointees from overseas who enter Hong Kong for employment for not more than 13 months;
b) Appointees from overseas who enter Hong Kong for employment and are members of a provident, pension, retirement or superannuation scheme established outside Hong Kong;
c) Members of occupational retirement schemes which are exempted from MPF requirements (i.e. MPF exempted ORSO schemes).

Appointees under (b) may apply for exemption from MPF by completing and returning the Declaration Form for Exemption from Mandatory Provident Fund to the Human Resource Section, Registry.

The University has adopted the HSBC Mandatory Provident Fund SuperTrust Plus Scheme for the purpose of MPF. Details of the Scheme can be found at the HSBC's website. Appointees can also visit the designated HSBC branches for more personal and comprehensive consultation.


Useful Links

Hong Kong Immigration Department
Labour Department
Inland Revenue Department
Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority

 


Last review date: March 2018

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