The process is longer for employers who are hiring drivers for their 1st time. From our experience, the Immigration Department takes 13-14 weeks to process Driver applications. Processing a Driver application takes longer than the usual domestic helper processing timeline. The vehicle driven must be a family-friendly car (family saloon car or mini van), and cannot have more than 8 seats.Driving to the office is not allowed to be included as a driving duty.This means that drivers may not be allowed to drive employers exclusively.Drivers can only drive passengers related to the domestic duties: which means children, elderly parents or those declared as caretakers.
These domestic duty categories are the basis of a FDW visa application and include: household chores, cooking, baby-sitting, child-minding and looking after aged persons in the household. Special permission is given on the basis that the driving duties are related to any of the five broad categories of domestic duties. The driving duties in this case must be related to household duties as the worker holds a FDW visa. The most common reasons for hiring a driver we see are for employers with children who have many extracurricular activities and it is difficult to access by public transportation, In this article, we highlight some important points to consider in hiring a driver. This means that aside from these special permissions, the visa status and requirements of drivers are the same as that of domestic helpers, including the live-in requirement. The Immigration Department must grant special permission for FDWs to hold driving duties. Drivers typically also tend to be male workers. Migrant workers who are hired as personal drivers in Hong Kong are defined by the Hong Kong Immigration Department as Foreign Domestic Workers (FDW) or “domestic helper” with special permission to perform driving duties. What do I need to know about hiring a driver?Įmployers may hire a driver for their household because their current transportation options don’t fulfill the need for children’s attendance of many extra curricular activities or the needs of elderly in the home.