Yes. You can take your Helper to China but you cannot ask her to work and let her stay there for a long period of time. Helper should have a special visa entry from Immigration. The employer also needs to have a supporting letter from the Hong Kong immigration Department.

Please be reminded that working in China is illegal for Domestic Helper who is holder of HK Foreign Domestic Helper Visa. It can result in substantial penalties to both employer and helper. You may also contact the Immigration Department for further information.

Currently, only expats in Guangdong province including Hong Kong and Macau residents can apply for a work visa for their domestic helpers. Chinese nationals are not allowed to hire a helper to work in the country.

According to the Employment Ordinance, a Helper must stay in his/her employer’s premises.

Some Foreign Domestic Helpers get hired for a part time job is also against the law and is subject to penalties.

Holder of Hong Kong Foreign Domestic Helper Visa is NOT allowed to get hired for a part time job. Hiring a part-time helper is against the law and is subject to penalties. It can result in substantial penalties to both employer and helper.

If you are looking for part-time help, you should hire a person with local citizenship.

Medical check-up will be done in the helper’s home country; however it is okay if the employer prefers the helper to take a medical check-up upon arrival, extra charges apply.

In Hong Kong and Singapore, it is optional to send your helper for a medical checkup after she arrives. In some Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar, a medical checkup upon helper’s arrival is mandatory for domestic helper visa application.

A helper cannot cross-country. Meaning, if a helper wishes to work in Hong Kong while he/she is now located in any countries other than the country of origin, he/she must return to the country of origin and process all the documents in his/her own country.

According to the practice instituted by the Labour Department, an employer is obliged to provide domestic Helper’s flight ticket to Hong Kong and responsible for the travel expenses from Hong Kong back to his/her country of origin under the employment contract.

For terminated helpers, he/she must be provided with travel expenses back to his/her country of origin. The mutual agreement should be settled by both employer and employee before the end of the visa to avoid overstaying.

A helper can start to work as soon as he/she is issued with a new visa. If he/she still has a current valid visa, she is not allowed to work with any other employers.

‘Finished contract’ helpers can usually start 4-6 weeks after starting the paperwork process.

Helpers who are terminated due to relocation or financial reasons can usually start 5 to 7 weeks after processing starts.

Helpers with ‘break’ and ‘terminated’ contract status can usually only start their jobs after 8-12 weeks

Those who are overseas and moving to Hong Kong for the first time will normally be able to start 10-12 weeks from signing.

Remember, your domestic worker can only start working for you once his or her visa has been processed. In the meantime, you can prepare your helper’s living space (which must be ‘suitable’ and must have reasonable privacy, according to the Immigration Department’s rules) and take out a mandatory insurance policy that covers your liability should your helper be injured on the job.