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Legal Employment

Non-local students are NOT allowed to take up employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establish to join in any business in Hong Kong, without the permission of the Director of Immigration. 

 

 

Immigration Department will issue a NOL to eligible non-local students for taking up on-campus part-time employment, summer job and employment study/curriculum related internship, upon approval of the application for student visa/extension of stay. The NOL will cease to be valid if you do not have a valid student visa. In case of loss or damage, you may request for a new NOL at the Immigration Department. Or should you switch to another institution/programme, the NOL in respect of the previous programme will also cease to be valid.

Sample of No Objection Letter for On-campus Part-time Employment and Summer job

Sample of No Objection Letter for Internship

In accordance with the immigration policy on study set out by the Immigration Department of the Hong Kong SAR, Non-local students studying a full-time locally accredited programme at degree level or above with the study period not less than one academic year are allowed to take up on-campus part-time employment, summer job and employment study/curriculum related internship. For details of your eligibility, please refer to the terms set out in your No Objection Letter (NOL) issued by the Immigration Department.

  • With the No Objection Letter for Part-time On-campus employment issued by the Immigration Department and a valid student visa, you are allowed to take up part-time on-campus employment for not more than 20 hours per week (the “Maximum Weekly Working Hours”) during 1 September to 31 May of the following year.
  • You are not allowed to roll over unused hours from one week (a period of seven days from Sunday to Saturday) to another.
  • You are only allowed to take up part-time on-campus employment at operators designated by PolyU. If the work location is outside campus, the University should be the employer. 
  • Before the start of an appointment, the employing department/office will invite you to complete the Undertaking and Declaration for non-local students taking up on-campus part-time jobs- “NLSST form 1”. 
  • You are responsible to keep track of the number of working hours per week and make sure it does not exceed 20.  Please be reminded that if your part-time on-campus employment exceeds the Maximum Weekly Working Hours, except during the summer period (i.e. from 1 June to 31 August), the excess would neither be paid nor regarded as an employment.

**According to the Government, starting from November 1 2023, full-time non-local postgraduate students would be temporarily exempted from the restrictions on taking up part-time jobs, on a trial basis for two years.

The Immigration Department will issue to eligible students through their institutions new NOLs setting out the suspension. Students approved of visas/entry permits on or after November 1 2023 will be issued with the updated NOLs.** 

  • With the No Objection Letter for Part-time On-Campus, non-local students are allowed to take up summer employment during summer months (i.e., 1 June to 31 August).
  • No limit in relation to working hours and location.
  • If your study programme allows or requires you to take up study/curriculum-related internship, you will receive a separate No Objection Letter for Internship from your Department at an appropriate time. With this NOL, you can take up the study/curriculum-related internship arranged or endorsed by your programme offering department. 
  • The duration of the study/curriculum related internship can be up to one year, or one-third of the normal duration of the relevant full-time study programme, whichever is shorter.  

Do you intend to stay in Hong Kong after graduation? If you plan to do so, you may apply to stay/return and work in Hong Kong under the Immigration Arrangement for Non-local Graduates (IANG)

(A) Non-local fresh graduate

  • Non-local students who have obtained an undergraduate or higher qualification in a full-time and locally-accredited programme in Hong Kong are eligible to apply under IANG. They may submit their applications to the Immigration Department directly together with photocopy of an official Transcript of Studies, Testimonial or Assessment Result Notification
  • Non-local graduates who would like to submit IANG application as fresh graduates are advised to apply for their official Transcript of Studies, Testimonial or Assessment Result Notification before expiry of their student visa.
  • Non-local fresh graduates who wish to apply to stay and work in Hong Kong are NOT required to have secured an offer of employment upon application. 
  • For details regarding the application for official Transcript of Studies, Testimonial or official Assessment Result Notification, please refer to the Student Handbook.

 (B) Returning non-local graduate

  • Non-local graduates who submit applications beyond six months of the date of their graduation are classified as returning non-local graduates. 
  • Returning non-local graduates are required to secure an offer of employment upon application.

You are strongly advised to study carefully the detailed information on the Immigration Arrangement for Non-local Graduates (IANG) provided by the Immigration Department:

Should you have further enquiries regarding IANG, please contact the Immigration Department directly at 2824 6111 or enquiry@immd.gov.hk.

Please be reminded that you are not allowed to take up any employment outside the scope set out in the No Objection Letters without permission from the Director of Immigration. A breach of any condition of stay will render you liable to prosecution and removal from Hong Kong under the Immigration Ordinance, Cap 115.

You may refer to the following Immigration Department website for more details:

I)   Guidebook for Entry for Study in Hong Kong 

II)  FAQ for Immigration Policy on Study Employment during the Study Programme 

 

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