Hong Kong has rejected 96 helper visa applications for suspected job-hopping so far this year

Hong Kong's Immigration Department rejected 96 employment visa applications from foreign domestic helpers suspected of job-hopping from January to October 2026, already more than the 93 rejected in all of 2025, according to a written reply to the Legislative Council on 11 November.

Hong Kong has rejected the employment visa applications of 96 foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) suspected of job-hopping so far in 2026, already three more than the total for the whole of 2025, The SUN Hong Kong reported on 12 November. The figures come from a written reply by Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun to a question from legislator Augustine Wong in the Legislative Council on 11 November.

Job-hopping is the term commonly used for FDHs who end their contracts early in order to change employers. Under the Employment Ordinance and the two-year Standard Employment Contract, either the employer or the helper may end the contract before it expires by giving one month's notice in writing or one month's wages in lieu of notice, the government said.

The numbers

Over the past three years, the Immigration Department's special duties team investigated 3,303 employment visa applications from FDHs suspected of job-hopping, according to the reply. Of these, 455 were rejected and 259 were withdrawn by the applicants or could not be followed up. The department said it does not keep a breakdown of the figures by the applicants' nationality.

How cases are checked

The special duties team was set up in June 2013. Case officers consider the conduct of the helpers, the records of the helpers and their former employers, and the reasons given for ending contracts early, and may contact former employers and applicants to check those reasons, Sun said.

For FDHs suspected of "job-hopping", the ImmD will decisively refuse their employment visa applications and ask them to leave Hong Kong.

Sun added that the Immigration Department keeps the application records and takes them into account when vetting the same helpers' future applications for employment visas or extensions of stay.

Wong had also asked whether employment agencies could be made to bear hiring costs on a pro-rata basis when a helper ends a contract without cause within the first three to six months. Sun replied that the Labour Department revised the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies in May 2024 to require agencies to state clearly whether they will provide a refund, arrange a replacement helper or make other arrangements, and whether extra fees apply. Agencies that fail to comply may have their licences revoked or renewal refused, or be issued with warnings.

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