Hong Kong Visit.

[RBM]

Reading Daves post Re Canadian visa reminded me to write this.

My partner, wishes to have just 3---4 days in Hong Kong to visit a friend there. I am not going.

I understand on her Filipino P.P no visa required how ever some difficulty could be encountered at departure.

She owns a house, we have joint account and she has qualifications. Like so many her work is looking after me so not gainfully employed, at least in the legal sense.

Any advice or first hand experience appreciated, we were thinking of visiting immigration and asking them but would mean a long trip

[Dave Hounddriver]

If she is over 23 (arbitrary age but the officials look down on younger girls leaving the country) and has return plane ticket, hotel reservation receipt, and proof of funds to support herself during the visit then I doubt she will be refused.  She will probably get interrogated by the officials in the emigration point but if she gives reasonable answers they will just let her go.  I know a few girls who have done it by themselves in those circumstances and I know a couple who were turned back because they were only 18. YMMV

[Methersgate]

K and I visited HK in 2014 with her little boy. The immigration officer at Clark would have stopped her but was persuaded by one of my best "Don't tangle with this Foreigner" performances.

 

I suggest that you see her off at the airport, just in case. 

[Tukaram (Tim)]

We did a Hong Kong trip last April, to get me a BB stamp.  It was my wife's first time out of the country and she was very concerned.  She took all the ID she could think of, our lease agreement, our marriage license, bank books, lots of paid bills, our itinerary... It was almost funny how much stuff she took - she had a folder stuffed with papers. She was very concerned what they might ask for. 

 

Leaving out of Manila (BTW the new terminal is quite nice). There was one small form to fill out. She gets up to the counter.  The immigration officer looks at her form, looks at her, looks at her passport, looks at her, and says "enjoy your flight".  No questions, no nothing.  Much easier than my wife expected ha ha.

 

I had to go through the foreigner counter and before I got over to her - she was already done.  :tiphat:

[Methersgate]

Hong Kong immigration will not stamp her passport; they will put a slip in it and stamp that,. to make the passport last longer, She should be careful not to lose that. I recommend that she spends HK$ 300 on a "Tourist Octopus Card" which will give her a trip into Town and back on the Airport Express and three days free travel on the MTR and buses (but not the Star Ferry, for which she will have to find HK$2.20 iirc)        

[Tukaram (Tim)]

Hong Kong immigration will not stamp her passport; they will put a slip in it and stamp that,. to make the passport last longer,

Yeah, I did not like that.  We taped ours in so not to lose them.

[Sam138477]

Got a question maybe you can help me with. I am new to this forum and new to the Philippines. I moved here 3 months ago from the USA with my Filipion wife and 4 year old daughter. My wife and daughter are dual citizens. When I came here by way of Hong Kong and they made me buy a return ticket to Hong Kong in order to be able to fly into the Philippines. Once we got here I got a Balik Bayan stamp in my passport so I can stay here a year.

My question is if we fly to Hong Kong in 9 months so we can return to the Philippines and get a new Balik Bayan stamp, is Hong Kong going to require me to buy a return ticket to Hong Kong again.

Thanks...looking forward to living here....

[i am bob]

There is a memo from BI stating that a return ticket is not required if coming to the Philippines on a Balikbayan... A copy exists somewhere in this forum under another post about Balikbayan but I'll let you search for it... :)

[Gerald Glatt]

Bring a copy of the law, 

show the ticket desk in Hong Kong if they say you must have a return ticket. 

 

If the clerk still doesn't understand the law, smile and ask to see the supervisor.

Do not lose your temper or raise your voice,the super knows the law.  

 

Be sure to have proof of your marriage with you.

The airlines must pay for your return if you are refused entry into the Philippines,  

[MikeB]

The problem is that the Balikbayan (the former Philippine citizen, not the alien spouse) is not even eligible to request a BB derivative privilege until standing on Philippine soil in front of an immigration officer. To get to that point the airline must transport you there. A marriage certificate is not a visa and the privilege is given at the discretion of the officer. If you are traveling without a valid physical visa and w/o an onward ticket the airline is within their rights to refuse to transport you. It has nothing to do with understanding the law. You can argue and you may win but given all the money and hassle you're saving not having to deal with the BI for a year it seems a small price.