'Let Helpers Stay With New Bosses During Visa Wait'

There are now calls to allow foreign domestic helpers to stay with their new employers before their visas are issued, after recent cases of helpers infected with Covid-19 at boarding houses.

The chairman of the Hong Kong Employment Agencies Association, Cheung Kit-man, told an RTHK programme on Wednesday that the processing of working visas for foreign domestic helpers has slowed down since the pandemic began, and that some helpers who are changing jobs in Hong Kong now have to wait up to two months before they get their new visas to start their new jobs.

He said previously, helpers would go back to their home countries between contracts. But now, many of them are stuck in Hong Kong and have to stay at boarding houses during the wait.

That has resulted in an increase in domestic helpers staying in boarding houses, and he warned the situation would continue if the Immigration Department fails to speed up processing the visas.

Cheung estimated that at least 4,000 domestic helpers are staying in some 200 to 300 boarding houses in the city.

He urged the government to relax the rules and allow domestic helpers to join their new employers while they wait for their visas. He said that could help reduce the number of helpers staying in boarding houses and stem the spread of Covid-19.

Cheung also pointed out that despite the government’s plan to test all foreign domestic helpers living in boarding houses for Covid-19, many of them may not get tested because authorities do not have the information of all the dormitories in Hong Kong.

However, the chairwoman of Hong Kong Employers of Domestic Helpers Association, Betty Yung, said it’s inappropriate for the helpers to stay with their employers before they are granted working visas.

"Who can guarantee that the domestic helper staying in the new employer’s house is not working? If she is working, actually she is an illegal worker already," Yung said.

Instead, she suggested that the government should identify suitable accommodation for some helpers during the wait to alleviate the crowding at boarding houses.

At least five domestic helpers who had lived in a boarding house in Sheung Wan were recently confirmed to have contracted Covid-19, and an Indonesian domestic helper who had stayed in a Mong Kok boarding house with at least 10 others was among the confirmed Covid cases on Tuesday.