Hong Kong ID Question

Hi all, I have a question regarding obtaining a Hong Kong ID. I'm a Canadian Citizen and I'm about to get married with my fiance who is a local Hong Kong Resident. I currently don't work or reside in Hong Kong but I plan to after we're married. How do I apply for a Hong Kong ID or permanent residence status after I get married? Is this a really long process? Thank you all in advance.

after your are married you can apply for a dependant visa - your wife will have to show that she can support you. but once you are here you will be able to work. as for permanent residence - you need to live here for 7 years first

Assuming she has a three star HKID, the process is straightforward but tedious. It takes several weeks. You go to immigration together and take all the docs you think they will need. They will give you a date to come back (several weeks later) and tell you which additional docs they want. You go back with the docs, and they either give you the visa on the spot or tell you what is still lacking. Although the process is slow, I was impressed with the thoroughness and professionalism of the officers: I am sure they can tell a genuine case from a bogus one at two hundred paces.



Once you have the visa you can stay and work in HK. You can (indeed must) also then apply for HKID. However, you will not get a permanent ("three star") ID until you have lived in HK for 7 years.



Beware that they are quite strict on the wording that SHE can support YOU. In other words, even if you are a billionaire, it will count for nothing in getting a dependant visa unless SHE has the necesssary income / assets. And yes, they are smart enough to check that that $1mn in her bank account wasn't just a loan from you! (Of course, if you are a billionaire, there are other ways in - but not as a dependant.) You will also have to show evidence that the marriage is not arranged, such as evidence that you have lived together or had a joint bank account for a few months.



It will help if she has a goverment rates demand addressed to her.



Periodically (every year?) she will have to sign a doc that she has not been out of HK for more than X days (I forget how many).

I'm not too sure what you guys mean by my wife being able to support me? Does that mean that even if I'm unemployed she will be able to support me? Thanks.

The assumption appears to be that you are and always will be penniless, even if you are manifestly not (they would not even look at my bankstatements or payslips, only at my wife's). Therefore, even if you are a billionaire investment banker getting regular multi-million dollar bonuses, your wife must still show SHE can support YOU. Maybe strange, but that's the system (I think).

RE. the HK permanentID and the three stars, they are different. You have to be Chineses to be able to get the 3 stars on your ID. Even after 7 years in HK, elligible for the HK Permanent ID, you will not necessarily get the 3 stars.

How do you know its a bloke coming over to marry his wife? doesn't fiance with one e mean a male, and fiancee with 2 a female, which reads it could be a women coming to marry her husband.

It took a lot more than the "week or two" someone mentioned above.