GlobeQuest

Macau visas and residency

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

Short stay

Visiting Macau, 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 · 30 daysUnited KingdomVisa-free · 180 daysIndiaVisa-free · 30 daysCanadaVisa-free · 30 daysAustraliaVisa-free · 30 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 Macau

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Advanced Professionals Programme (Law 7/2023)

Skilled professionals with a Macao job offer in a designated profession in short supply — the talent route most working people will actually qualify for, and the one that grants residence rather than a work permit.

What you need
  • Employment by a Macao employer, or a written promise of employment
  • Your profession must appear on the list of professions in short supply for the current recruitment round — this is a binary test, so check it first
  • Remuneration at or above the level set for the round
  • Qualifications and experience matching the role
  • You must fulfil habitual-residence conditions in Macao once granted, unlike the two higher-tier programmes
How long it lasts
Residence authorisation granted and renewed by the Public Security Police Force while the conditions hold.
Path to permanent residence
Yes — this is residence, so the seven-year clock runs. Permanent residence and the right of abode follow seven continuous years of ordinary residence in Macao. For non-Chinese nationals it must be the seven years immediately preceding the application, and a non-Chinese permanent resident who is absent for more than three years loses the right of abode.
Cost
Government application and identity-card fees only; there is no investment requirement.
Processing time
The programme runs in fixed recruitment rounds through an electronic application platform rather than continuously. Assessment takes months.
Worth knowing
  • This programme is administered by the Talent Development Committee, not by an employer's HR department, and it opens in rounds. If your profession is not on the current short-supply list you cannot apply, however good your CV — you would be hired on a blue card instead, which is not residence.
  • Law 7/2023 replaced the old IPIM route for 'management personnel and technical personnel with special qualifications'. That older category was abolished; any guide still describing it as the way skilled workers get Macao residence is out of date.
  • The scheme's stated purpose is economic diversification away from gaming, so the short-supply lists lean toward modern finance, technology, health and culture rather than the casino sector that dominates the labour market.
Sources:Talent Development Committee — Talent Recruitment System (Law 7/2023)Macao SAR Government Portal — Residence Authorization (PS-1480)Public Security Police Force (CPSP) — Migration / Residence and Stay AffairsICLG — Corporate Immigration Laws and Regulations: Macau
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

High-end Talents and Outstanding Talents Programmes (Law 7/2023)

The two upper tiers of the talent regime: people with internationally recognised achievement in their field (High-end Talents), and professionals whose expertise supports Macao's target industries (Outstanding Talents). Neither requires a local job offer.

What you need
  • High-end Talents: exceptional skills, internationally recognised achievements, or demonstrable contribution to Macao's long-term economic and social development
  • Outstanding Talents: expertise relevant to Macao's key industries, with work or profession consistent with your qualifications
  • Application through the Talent Development Committee's electronic platform in an open recruitment round
How long it lasts
Residence authorisation, renewed under the programme's own conditions.
Path to permanent residence
Yes, via the same seven-year ordinary-residence clock — but read the caveat below, because these two tiers are the exception that proves the rule.
Cost
Government fees only.
Processing time
Assessed in rounds; months rather than weeks.
Worth knowing
  • For High-end and Outstanding Talents, maintaining and renewing the residence authorisation does not depend on habitually residing in Macao. That is a genuine and unusual concession — but permanent residence still requires seven years of ordinary residence, so a holder who does not actually live here keeps the permit and never earns the right of abode. Do not read the renewal concession as a shortcut to permanent status.
  • These tiers are small and highly selective. If you are a competent professional rather than a nationally recognised one, the Advanced Professionals Programme is the realistic target.
Sources:Talent Development Committee — Talent Recruitment System (Law 7/2023)Macao SAR Government Portal — Residence Authorization (PS-1480)
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Non-resident worker's permit ("blue card", Law 21/2009)

The great majority of foreign workers in Macao — from casino and hospitality staff to specialists and executives. Listed here because it is what most people are actually offered, and because its limits are the most consequential fact in this entire file.

What you need
  • A Macao employer that has obtained authorisation from the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) to hire a non-resident worker for that specific role
  • The employer must show genuine operational need; DSAL customarily applies a local-to-non-resident worker ratio in approving quotas
  • The permit is then issued through the Public Security Police Force and is tied to the named employer and job
How long it lasts
Typically one to two years depending on worker category, renewable — but renewable indefinitely is not the same as permanent.
Path to permanent residence
None. This is the single most important thing to know about working in Macao. A blue card is a work authorisation, not a residence authorisation: holders are not Macao residents, do not receive a Macao Resident Identity Card, and time held on a blue card does not count toward the seven years needed for permanent residence. You can work here for fifteen years on blue cards and be no closer to residency than on day one.
Cost
Borne by the employer, including a monthly employment fee per non-resident worker and the obligation to cover repatriation costs when the employment ends.
Processing time
Weeks to months, driven by the employer's DSAL quota application rather than by you.
Worth knowing
  • The permit dies with the job. You cannot change employer or role without a fresh authorisation, and when the employment ends so does your right to be in Macao — there is no grace period comparable to a residence permit.
  • Blue-card holders do not get the resident package: no Macao Resident Identity Card, and access to resident-only benefits and schemes is limited. Family members are not automatically covered.
  • Frontline gaming roles are reserved for Macao residents, which is why so many foreign hires sit in back-of-house, hospitality, construction and specialist functions.
  • If residence matters to you, the question to ask a Macao employer at offer stage is not 'will you sponsor me' but 'will this be a blue card or a residence authorisation under Law 7/2023'. They are different jobs, legally.
Sources:ICLG — Corporate Immigration Laws and Regulations: MacauPublic Security Police Force (CPSP) — Migration / Residence and Stay AffairsMacao SAR Government Portal — Residence Authorization (PS-1480)
InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Investment residency (IPIM major investment)

Investors bringing a substantial project judged beneficial to Macao. Administered by the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM).

What you need
  • A major investment or investment plan beneficial to the Macao SAR, assessed case by case rather than against a published price tag
  • Documentation of the project, its funding and its economic contribution
  • Family dependants — spouse, parents of either spouse, and dependent minors — can be included
How long it lasts
Temporary residency, granted for a fixed term and renewed on review while the investment is maintained. IPIM does not publish the grant length on its public guidance — ask it directly rather than relying on the figures agents quote.
Path to permanent residence
Yes — the temporary residency counts as residence, so the seven-year clock to permanent residence runs, provided the investment and the residence are both maintained.
Cost
The investment itself plus professional fees; IPIM does not publish a fixed minimum.
Processing time
Months, across project assessment and the residency decision.
Worth knowing
  • The real-estate purchase route is closed and has been for a long time: under Article 1 of Administrative Regulation 7/2007, IPIM has not accepted new temporary-residency applications based on investment in local real estate since 4 April 2007. Only renewals and dependant extensions for existing holders continue. Any agent offering Macao residency for buying a flat is selling something that does not exist.
  • The old 'management personnel / technical personnel with special qualifications' category under IPIM was abolished by Article 38 of Law 7/2023 — that traffic now goes through the talent regime. Existing holders may still renew and extend to dependants, but no new applications are accepted.
  • Macao imposes no restriction on foreigners buying property, so people conflate 'can buy' with 'can get residency by buying'. Those are unrelated in Macao.
Sources:IPIM — Temporary Residency (investment residency)Macao SAR Government Portal — Residence Authorization (PS-1480)
FamilyMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Residence authorisation by family reunion

Spouses and close family of Macao residents, including holders of Hong Kong and Taiwan travel documents.

What you need
  • A qualifying family relationship with a Macao resident — most commonly marriage
  • A valid passport or travel document and no legal bar on entry or residence
  • Application to the Residence and Stay Affairs Department of the Public Security Police Force under Law 16/2021 and Administrative Regulation 38/2021
How long it lasts
Residence authorisation, renewed periodically.
Path to permanent residence
Yes — the seven-year ordinary-residence clock applies here as it does to every other residence route.
Cost
Government application and identity-card fees.
Processing time
Months; the police force assesses the genuineness of the relationship.
Worth knowing
  • This is a route to residence, not to work authorisation in a reserved role — but as a resident you are outside the non-resident worker regime altogether, which is a materially better position than a blue card.
  • Non-Chinese permanent residents lose the right of abode after more than three years' continuous absence from Macao. That catches families who acquire status and then relocate.
Sources:Macao SAR Government Portal — Residence Authorization (PS-1480)Public Security Police Force (CPSP) — Migration / Residence and Stay Affairs
On the ground

Where you'd land in Macau

Macau

Portuguese old town, casino skyline and almost no income tax — but a work permit here is not residence.

Full Macau guide

Macau at a glance

Capital
Macao
Population
686K
Languages
Cantonese, Portuguese
Currency
MOP