Immigration help

Hello,


I am hoping someone here has been through the same or similar situation as me and can help.


I am a US citizen, with a work visa (not permanent residence) in Hong Kong, and I am getting married next week to a Mainland Chinese girl. The marriage will take place in the US. I have talked to the Hong Kong immigration people several times, and they tell me she cannot get a dependant visa, unless she first gets residency in some other country besides China. I talked to the US Embassy people, and they tell me she cannot get US residency or a green card, unless we actually live in the US.


So it seems if I want to live with my new wife, I must leave Hong Kong to do so.


Would it be worth it to get an Immigration lawyer in Hong Kong? If so, can someone recommend one? I want to make sure I am getting the correct information before I decide to resign my job and move from Hong Kong.


Thanks in advance.

There are usually ways around such obstacles; I understand Weir & Associates do a lot of immigrating work reasonably.

Hi,


I am afraid that you are in a bit of problem here. We have just been round the same hoop. I am a UK national, married to a mainland Chinese wife. We got moved to Hong Kong from Shanghai. Because we came direct from the Mainland my wife was unable to get a resident's permit in Hong Kong. General rule is that if the mainlander has been outside of Greater China for 12 months before applying there will not be a problem. One way round is to try to get your new wife into Hong Kong under the Mainland Talent Scheme...but she will need an employer in Hong Kong and will have to be performing a role here which local talent cannot reasonably perform. It is a tough task, but the HK Immigration Dept website does list some occupations that count (check out www.immi.gov.hk). Our experience was that the HK authorities blamed the mainland, and the mainland blamed HK! We are off to Jakarta because of these problems!

Thanks for all the replies so far… It does not look like there is much of a chance of her moving to Hong Kong. I did send an email to Weir and Associates; I may try to call them this week if I do not hear back from them. I get the same thing as snowyhumphrey, the HK immigration people blame China, and tell us to go talk to them, and the China immigration people do the opposite. As for her getting her own work visa, not much chance of that as she has a degree in English and has been working as an English teacher in China. I asked HK immigration and they said no chance, since there is no shortage of locals who can speak/teach English in HK. I will let you all know how it works out, but I am guessing I will be leaving like snowyhumphrey. (The good news is my company has offices in China, and we have already discussed my moving there.) Anyway, we are off to Las Vegas to get married on Thursday!!!!