Filipino maid takes HK residency case to top court

Foreign domestic helpers from Southeast Asian nations such as the Philippines and Indonesia join local residents as they march through the streets of Hong Kong to protest over soaring rent and food prices in the southern Chinese city. AFP File Photo

HONG KONG—A Filipino domestic helper won permission Friday to take her fight for permanent residency in Hong Kong to its top court, hoping for a landmark ruling that would let thousands of other foreign maids settle in the southern Chinese financial center.

Lawyer Mark Daly said a three-member panel of High Court judges allowed his client, Evangeline Banao Vallejos, to appeal their decision in March upholding Hong Kong’s denial of permanent residency for foreign domestic helpers. Other foreign residents can apply to settle permanently after seven years.

The judges said the Court of Final Appeal would have to decide whether immigration law is inconsistent with Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

“We’re quite happy,” said Daly. “The show goes on.”

Vallejos, who has worked as a maid in Hong Kong since 1986, launched the case after her bid for permanent residency was rejected.

Last year, in a ruling that surprised many, a lower court decided in her favor. But the High Court judges overturned that decision.

Nearly 300,000 foreign maids, mainly from Southeast Asian countries, work for Hong Kong families. By the end of 2010, 117,000 had been resident seven years or more.

The case has split the city. Some argue barring maids from settling permanently amounts to ethnic discrimination. Others fear letting them stay would result in a massive influx of their relatives, straining the city’s social services and resources.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. Permanent residency is the closest thing it has to citizenship and allows those who have it to vote and work without a visa.