Immigration

16Feb2021

New option if your employment / dependant visa is expiring soon or has expired

A recent change in policy on extensions of stay by the Immigration Department is now permitting applications to be made by applicants who are unable to return to Hong Kong before the expiry of their employment or dependant visas.  To be eligible, the applicant must…Read More

14Aug2020

Hong Kong Government launches Visa-Free Entry for Arbitration Participants

Generally, anyone who does not have the right of abode or the right to land in Hong Kong requires a visa to work in Hong Kong.  In the past, this requirement applied to all participants in arbitral proceedings in Hong Kong including arbitrators, witnesses, counsel,…Read More

20Sep2018

Legal update: Same sex spouses to receive dependant visas after policy reversal by Immigration Department

In its judgment handed down on 4 July 2018 the Court of Final Appeal upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision that the Director of Immigration’s exclusion of same-sex married or otherwise formalised couples from the dependant visa policy was unlawful. Effective 19 September 2018, the…Read More

05Oct2017

Legal update: Court of Appeal allows same sex dependant visas

In a landmark decision handed down on 25 September 2017, the Court of Appeal held it unlawful to exclude couples in same sex marriages and civil partnerships from the dependant visa regime: QT v Director of Immigration, CACV 117 of 2016. The Court found that…Read More