- Recruitment agencies say civil servants’ work-from-home arrangements as city battles third wave of infections the main factor for slowdown in processing
- Others point to a general drop in visa applications because of wariness over political instability since last year’s social unrest
When Shannon Dean was offered an English teaching job in Hong Kong, she felt excited to start a new life in the city. Now, however, she says she is stuck in limbo, waiting in Manchester in Britain to see whether her working visa will be approved.
While the 24-year-old was offered the job in May, she had to wait until she got her bachelor’s degree certificate in July before she could go ahead with her visa application. It was submitted on July 20, the same day Hong Kong’s civil servants began working from home amid the third wave of coronavirus infections, and Dean has yet to hear from the Immigration Department regarding her application.
Originally hoping she would be in the city by September, the English learning centre has now pushed her start date to November.
