Policy on FDWs

Lizzy made this Freedom of Information request to Immigration Department

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was partially successful.

Lizzy
Unknown

Dear Immigration Department,

I am writing to request clarification on the prevailing policies regarding:

(1) whether the immigration department will deny a VISA for a foreign domestic helper if he/she has been terminated multiple times?

(2) whether an FDW who has been terminated must go back to their home country in order to be granted a new foreign domestic helper VISA?

(3) whether an FDW who has a pending criminal or civil case will not be granted a new foreign domestic helper VISA until the resolution of the case or cases?

I would appreciate it if you could attach your reply in pdf format.

Many thanks for your assistance.

Yours faithfully

Lizzy Liu

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Immigration Department

1 Attachment

Our ref. : IL/00327573/20

 

Our ref.: ImmD FDH/6-5/10/28/C

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Re: Code on Access to Information

 

I refer to your request for information made under the Code on Access to
Information on 4 June 2020.

 

Clause 12 of the Standard Employment Contract (SEC) for employment of
foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) provides that in the event of termination
of the SEC, both the employer and the FDH shall give the Director of
Immigration notice in writing within seven days of the date of
termination.  A copy of the other party's written acknowledgement of the
termination shall also be forwarded to the Immigration Department (ImmD). 
These records will be kept and taken into account by ImmD when it assesses
any future applications made by the FDH for employment visa or extension
of stay.

 

Under the prevailing policy, change of employer applications from FDHs in
Hong Kong within their two-year contract will normally not be approved
except under exceptional circumstances, e.g. if the FDH's contract is
terminated on grounds of the transfer, migration, death or financial
reasons of the ex-employer, or if there is evidence suggesting that the
FDH has been abused or exploited.  An FDH who wishes to enter into an
employment contract with a new employer must first return to his/her
country of origin and then submit a new employment visa application to
ImmD.

 

To combat abuse of premature contract termination arrangements by FDHs,
ImmD will closely scrutinise the case details in assessing FDHs'
applications for employment visa, such as the number and reasons for
premature contract termination in the last 12 months, with a view to
detecting any abuse of the arrangements for premature contract
termination.  If ImmD suspects that there is abuse, the application will
be refused.

-

ImmD has published a "Guidebook for the Employment of Domestic Helpers
from Abroad", which sets out detailed information on eligibility criteria,
application procedures, restrictions on deployment, insurance and other
relevant requirements.  ImmD will assess the eligibility of the
applications as per the criteria given in the guidebook.  Each case will
be considered on its own merits.  For more details, please refer to ImmD’s
website at
[1]https://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/services/vis....

 

           

Yours faithfully,

 

 

( KL WONG )

for Director of Immigration

To learn more about the application requirements and procedures of the
most frequently used services provided by the Hong Kong Immigration
Department, you are welcome to visit the Easy Access Playlist at Hong Kong
Immigration Department [2]YouTube Channel. The concerned video clips have
Cantonese voice-over supplemented by Chinese or English subtitles.

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