Batgung

Hello Radix,

You don't mention whether you need a visa to work here, or you already have the right to live and work here ? If you need a visa, and you don't speak Cantonese, then unfortunately I think you'll find it difficult.

The big companies are likely to insist on Cantonese, whether or not that's what they say in their job ads. The smaller companies (especially those which are run by expats) may be more willing to hire other westerners - but unless you have very unique skills they probably won't want the trouble of applying for a visa for you.

Maybe I'm being too pessimistic - are there any readers who've arrived in HK in the last few years and been able to find a company here to arrange their visa and give them a job ?

MrB

Well, what sort of things qualify as skills no local has? Because other than speaking native English, Hong Kong has enough well-educated people to fill any need. Doesn't it? :)

Is there a directory of expat-owned businesses, by any chance?

Thanks!

my company has successfully hired managerial level employees with specialist skills, i.e. in the hospitality industry but even then we sometimes have to battle to demonstrate that a particular skill level or international experience base couldn't be found locally or we could not recruit locally

It sounds as though it will be very difficult for you unless you have something - you mention english as a language, perhaps you could pursue a TEFL qualifcation or the like

With regard to your fiancee, if she was not born here or previously held a permanent ID card, it will be difficult and she will most probably have to enter on a visitor visa and perhaps seek a change once here onto residency, depending on how long she was here and how long she's been away.

Also, you can only enter as her dependent if actually married, there may be a short-term fiancee visa but to be honest i haven't ever had to use that so am not too sure. Unfortunately, as of July 1, 2003, the rules were changed here in that previously as a dependent of someone with a work visa, that entitled you to automatically be on employment status too, and free to find work. This was changed to work visas being issued now only to the individual and dependents not being automatically granted the right to work. They now are required to qualify for an employment visa along the same lines as everyone else.

a good source of visa information is:

[url]http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/hkvisas.htm[/url]

for 'expat' companies you may like to start your search here:

[url]http://www.chamber.org.hk/[/url]

[url]http://www.britcham.com/[/url]

[url]http://www.amcham.org.hk/home.html[/url]

[url]http://www.tdctrade.com[/url]

best of luck, it's not easy getting in here any longer, and with unemployment still not stable, jobs are tenuous to say the least.

Fiona

Hi Radix;

I'm fairly well up on this topic, as Mrs Tall just completed an MBA last year.

In HK, The Chinese University (CUHK) and the University of Science and Technology (HKUST) both have programs that are very highly rated -- within Asia. Mrs Tall didn't apply to either, since she wanted a more international perspective, having done her undergrad degree at Chinese U, but more on that in a bit. I don't know that I'd recommend Chinese U's program to a non-Chinese speaker. You might be able to get by, but CU exists with a mandate to further higher education using chinese language. HKUST would likely be a better fit, as it's an English-medium program, and just generally a nice place to study. Several other HK universities offer the MBA, but I'm not sure they'd be of much use outside HK/China, unless you were aiming at focusing your career on your China expertise -- but you'd need a lot of experience over here beyond academic study to pull that off.

The other option is to do an internationally-offered and respected program via distance ed; there are *many* such programs on offer in HK, and many of them have enough students here to maintain admin/support staff in Hong Kong. Mrs Tall did her degree with Henley Management College from the UK, which was recently ranked at #11 for all MBAs in the world by the Economist; Henley does run a support office here in HK. Another very good option from the UK is Warwick University; you could again study for their degree here (or from most places on earth, for that matter) via distance ed. And there are literally dozens of other options, if you look around.

The other thing to consider, of course, is cost -- you won't get a penny from the HK government if you attend a university here, obviously, and the overseas programs all require hefty -- although not utterly crushing -- fees. That said, it's way cheaper than studying for one at a decent program in the states.

Hope this helps.

Yes, that's just about exactly what I meant -- if you could speak Chinese, and had focused on China business in your studies, that'd be an excellent start.

I'm no businessman, though, so don't take my word on this topic! What do others who have more experience in this area think?