Your new helper’s first week: a flu jab, a seminar, and one Admiralty address
By Monica Chan
Quick Answer
Two things belong in a Filipino helper’s first week: a seasonal flu jab, free or subsidised for Hong Kong residents aged 50 and above and a small fee otherwise, and the mandatory Philippine welcome seminar, which can share the same day. Both are simple once you know where to go, and every consular office now sits in one Admiralty building.
The first week with a newly arrived Filipino helper runs on paperwork and small errands. Two of them are easy to forget and cheap to fix: her flu jab, and the welcome seminar the Philippines requires of new arrivals. Do them early and the rest of the season goes better.
Why the flu jab is worth ten minutes
The Centre for Health Protection recommends seasonal influenza vaccination every year for everyone, not only the frail. If your home includes an elderly parent or young children, they are precisely the groups most at risk from flu complications, and the person who cooks for them and holds the baby is part of the protection. There is also a purely practical side: a helper flattened by flu for a week is a week with no school run and no dinner on the table.
Is it free? That depends on her age
Hong Kong residents aged 50 or above (counted by year of birth) can get the seasonal flu jab free or subsidised, through family doctors enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme or at District Health Centres. Under 50, a fee applies unless she has a chronic condition that qualifies her. Two things to sort first: she needs her HKID, and adults must be registered for eHealth before the free or subsidised jab. Some scheme doctors add a small charge on top, so ask when booking. The programme refreshes every year with a new season opening each autumn, and the current venues, times and walk-in arrangements are listed on the Centre for Health Protection's vaccination page.
The welcome seminar that is not optional
For newly arrived Filipino helpers, the Post-Arrival Orientation Seminar is a mandatory welcome programme on the Philippine side, arranged through the consulate's welfare office. It is short, it is useful, and it can share a day with the week's other errands rather than needing its own trip. If you hired through GMA, talk to us when you are planning her first week: we can book the seminar for you and line it up with everything else on the day.
One building, three floors: where to go for what
Under the consulate's advisory effective 25 October 2026, every Philippine office your helper might need now sits in the United Centre at 95 Queensway, Admiralty, on three different floors:
| Floor | Office | What it handles |
|---|---|---|
| 14th Floor | Philippine Consulate General | Passports, notarial and NBI services, civil registry and citizenship, assistance to nationals (non-OFWs), visas for foreign nationals, overseas voters registration, Pag-IBIG Fund, SSS |
| 18th Floor | Overseas Workers Welfare Administration | OWWA services, including the welcome seminar |
| 29th Floor | Migrant Workers Office | Labour concerns: contract verification, the Overseas Employment Certificate, assistance to workers |
Floors at this consulate have moved before, so check its latest advisory before heading over.
A first week that sets the tone
None of this is difficult; it just needs someone to have thought about the order. Families who hired through GMA can lean on us for exactly this: seminar bookings, the sequence of the day, and the settling-in questions that come after. Talk to us about your new arrival, or read how we support families after placement.
Last updated: 30 October 2026.
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This article is general information about employing a domestic helper in Hong Kong. It is not legal, immigration or professional advice, and the rules do change. For your own situation, check the official sources below or talk to us.