Hong Kong’s immigration personnel are taking steps to expedites visa applications for professionals looking to leave Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami.
According to reports, Hong Kong officials have received over 270 requests for work visas from high-level managers over the last few weeks. In move aimed at luring highly-paid professionals to the SAR, immigration officers are reducing the processing time of applications from 6-8 weeks to just 2 days in some cases.
Talking to the Wall Street Journal Hong Kong’s top immigration official, Chan Kwok-k, said: “We hope that they consider long-term settlement in Hong Kong.”
According to reports the majority of the visas were given to senior managers of multinational companies in Japan, mainly in the financial industries.
Singapore, another destination that may be targeted by expats looking to flee Japan, has not yet taken any steps to reduce their visa processing times.
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