GlobeQuest

Hong Kong visas and residency

Who can visit Hong Kong without a visa, and the 5 long-stay routes that let you actually live there.

Short stay

Visiting Hong Kong, by passport

How the 198 passports we track get in. A visitor entry is never permission to work, study or settle — that is what the routes further down are for.

United StatesVisa-free · 90 daysUnited KingdomVisa-free · 180 daysIndiae-VisaCanadaVisa-free · 90 daysAustraliaVisa-free · 90 daysGermanyVisa-free · 90 daysFranceVisa-free · 90 daysNetherlandsVisa-free · 90 daysIrelandVisa-free · 90 daysSpainVisa-free · 90 daysItalyVisa-free · 90 daysPortugalVisa-free · 90 daysPolandVisa-free · 90 daysSwedenVisa-free · 90 daysSwitzerlandVisa-free · 90 daysSouth AfricaVisa-free · 30 days
Long stay

How you actually move to Hong Kong

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified July 2026

Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS)

High earners and graduates of highly ranked universities who want to come to Hong Kong without a job offer. The flagship of Hong Kong's post-2022 talent push.

What you need
  • Category A: annual income of HK$2.5 million or more in the year before applying; or
  • Categories B and C: a bachelor's degree from a university on the scheme's eligible list, which rose from 199 to 200 institutions effective 1 January 2026 and is reissued annually — Category B for graduates with 3+ years of experience in the past 5, Category C for recent graduates without that experience
  • No job offer or employer sponsorship needed
How long it lasts
36 months for Category A, 24 months for Categories B and C, extendable once you are employed or running a business.
Path to permanent residence
Right of abode after 7 years of continuous ordinary residence — the same clock as every other route, and unconditional once earned.
Cost
Application and visa fees of a few hundred Hong Kong dollars.
Processing time
Now around 9 calendar days for many applicants, down from about four weeks, after ImmD began accepting digital degree certificates verified through CHESICC and Digitary.
Worth knowing
  • Whether your university is on the list is a binary test — check it before anything else, because there is no discretion around it. The list is reissued each year, so a university that was not on it last year may be on it now.
  • Category C has an annual quota, allocated first-come first-served; Categories A and B do not. Category C also excludes non-local students who did their undergraduate degree in Hong Kong.
  • The stay is unrestricted: you can work for anyone, start a business, or do both. That freedom is unusual and is the real value of the pass. High earners on Category A now get three years of it rather than two.
  • Hong Kong has no digital nomad visa, but TTPS functions as one for anyone who qualifies — with the crucial difference that it starts the seven-year clock.
Sources:ImmD — Top Talent Pass SchemeHong Kong Immigration Department
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS)

Skilled professionals without a Hong Kong job offer who don't qualify for TTPS — assessed on points rather than on income or university ranking.

What you need
  • A points score under either the General Points Test (age, academic qualifications, work experience, language ability, family background) or the Achievement-based Points Test
  • Financial ability to support yourself and dependants without public assistance
  • Good education background: at least a first degree, in most cases
  • Clean record and good language ability in Chinese or English
How long it lasts
Typically granted for 24 months initially, then extendable.
Path to permanent residence
The same 7-year right-of-abode clock.
Cost
Modest visa fees.
Processing time
Longer than TTPS — commonly several months, as applications are assessed in batches.
Worth knowing
  • QMAS is the older scheme and TTPS has overtaken it for most eligible applicants. It remains the better option for people whose strength is credentials and experience rather than salary or university brand.
  • The Achievement-based test is for exceptional cases — an Olympic medal, a major international award — and almost nobody qualifies under it.
Sources:ImmD — Quality Migrant Admission SchemeHong Kong Immigration Department
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

General Employment Policy (employer-sponsored)

People with a Hong Kong job offer. Applicants from mainland China use the parallel ASMTP scheme instead.

What you need
  • A confirmed job offer with pay and conditions broadly matching the local market
  • Qualifications, skills or experience not readily available in Hong Kong
  • The employer must show a genuine need for the role
How long it lasts
Usually the standard 2-3-3 pattern of extensions, tied to employment.
Path to permanent residence
The same 7-year clock, provided residence stays continuous across job changes.
Cost
Visa fee only; there is no levy on the employer.
Processing time
Around 4 weeks for a complete application.
Worth knowing
  • Changing employer requires a fresh application, and a gap in employment can jeopardise continuity of ordinary residence — which is what the seven-year clock actually measures.
  • Hong Kong applies no quota and no labour-market test here, which makes it markedly simpler than Switzerland or Singapore for a sponsored hire.
Sources:Hong Kong Immigration Department
InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES)

High-net-worth investors. Relaunched in 2024 after more than a decade suspended.

What you need
  • Net assets of at least HK$30 million, personally held and unencumbered for at least the six months before the net-asset assessment
  • Investment of at least HK$30 million in permissible assets, of which HK$3 million must go into the designated Capital Investment Entrant Portfolio
  • Real estate counts only within an aggregate cap of HK$10 million, and a residential property qualifies at all only if the transaction price of that single property is HK$50 million or above — a rule added on 16 October 2024
How long it lasts
Initial approval then extensions while the investment is maintained.
Path to permanent residence
The same 7-year clock, and the investment must be held throughout.
Cost
The HK$30 million investment plus professional fees.
Processing time
Several months across the net-asset assessment and the investment verification.
Worth knowing
  • The relaunched scheme deliberately steers money away from residential property and toward the designated portfolio — assumptions carried over from the pre-2015 version are wrong.
  • Unlike Greece's or Portugal's programmes, this one comes with a genuine residence expectation because the seven-year clock requires ordinary residence.
Sources:ImmD — Capital Investment Entrant SchemeHong Kong Immigration Department
StudentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Student visa (and IANG for graduates)

Students at Hong Kong institutions, and their graduates staying on.

What you need
  • Admission to a full-time programme at an approved institution, which acts as sponsor
  • Proof of funds for tuition and living costs
How long it lasts
Course length; the IANG arrangement then gives graduates a further unrestricted stay.
Path to permanent residence
Study and IANG time both count as ordinary residence toward the 7-year right of abode — one of the most generous treatments of student time anywhere.
Cost
Visa fees plus tuition.
Processing time
Around 6-8 weeks; apply as soon as you have an offer.
Worth knowing
  • IANG imposes no job-offer requirement and no sector restriction — graduates get unrestricted access to the labour market, which is why the study-then-stay route is so heavily used here.
  • Because student years count toward the seven, a Hong Kong degree can put a graduate close to halfway to permanent status.
Sources:Hong Kong Immigration Department
On the ground

Where you'd land in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Skyscrapers against green peaks, dim sum and a self-sponsored Top Talent Pass — Asia's financial capital where 15% flat tax meets world-class transit and country parks.

Full Hong Kong guide

Hong Kong at a glance

Capital
Hong Kong
Population
7.5M
Languages
Cantonese, English, Mandarin
Currency
HKD