Hong Kong Visas & Immigration Schemes
Nine routes into Hong Kong, one destination: permanent residency after seven years. Here is what each scheme actually asks of you — and what has to exist on the ground before most of them will approve you.
Hong Kong runs one of the most open skilled-migration systems in Asia. There is no lottery, no quota on most schemes, and no language test. Several routes need no investment at all — they are decided on your salary, your qualifications, or your employer.
Almost every route converges on the same finish line: seven years of continuous ordinary residence and you can apply for the Right of Abode — permanent residency. Which scheme you enter through matters less than whether you can keep the underlying status alive for those seven years.
The table below is pulled live from AbroadBase, our sister platform, where each scheme is tracked against its official Immigration Department page.
Every Hong Kong scheme
Grouped by route. Live from AbroadBase.
| Scheme | Investment | Requirements & timing |
|---|
Showing 0 schemes — full catalogue on AbroadBase →
The nine routes, in plain terms
Top Talent Pass (TTPS)
The headline scheme. Category A takes anyone who earned HK$2.5m or more in the past year — no job offer needed, 36-month pass. Categories B and C take graduates of the world's top universities on a 24-month pass.
Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS)
Points-based, assessed on age, education, experience and language. No job offer required at entry. The annual quota was scrapped in November 2024, which changed this from a bottleneck into a genuine option.
Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES)
The money route, relaunched in 2024. HK$30m into permitted assets, part of it into a designated portfolio. The only Hong Kong scheme with a real price tag.
General Employment Policy (GEP)
The standard work visa: a Hong Kong employer, a genuine role, market-rate pay and a reason the job can't easily be filled locally. Initial stay of 36 months.
Entry as Entrepreneurs (GEP investment stream)
Start or join a Hong Kong business. There is no minimum sum — Immigration applies a viable-business test, and wants a credible three-year plan, local hires and real substance.
Non-local Graduates (IANG)
Graduate from a Hong Kong institution and you get 24 months unconditional, no job offer required. Uniquely, your study time counts toward the seven years — often the fastest route to PR.
Technology Talent (TechTAS)
Employer-driven and fast — roughly two weeks once the company holds its quota from the Innovation and Technology Commission. For R&D roles in designated technology areas.
Mainland Talents (ASMTP)
The equivalent of GEP for Mainland Chinese residents: a Hong Kong job offer at market pay, initial stay of 36 months.
Second Generation of Chinese HK Permanent Residents
Aged 18–40 and born overseas to a Chinese Hong Kong permanent resident parent? You can return on a 24-month stay with no job offer, needing employment only at first extension. Widely overlooked.
The seven-year rule
Nearly every route above leads to the same place. After seven years of continuous ordinary residence you may apply for the Right of Abode, which brings permanent residency, the right to live and work without a visa, and the right to vote. Two things trip people up:
Continuity is what counts
The clock tracks your status, not your intentions. Letting a visa lapse between jobs, or spending long stretches outside Hong Kong, can break the chain and reset years of progress.
It is residency, not a passport
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China. The Right of Abode is a regional status, not a foreign nationality — and a Chinese passport is a separate question with its own rules on dual nationality.
Where 818HI comes in
We are not immigration lawyers, and we don't file visa applications — licensed HK immigration counsel does that, and we're glad to introduce you. What we build is the substance the application rests on, which for the employment and entrepreneur routes is usually the part that actually decides the outcome.
The Hong Kong company
GEP, ASMTP, TechTAS and the entrepreneur stream all need a real employer or a real business. We incorporate it and keep it in good standing.
Accounting & audit
Immigration looks at accounts at extension time. Bookkeeping, filings and audit are handled through Certanta, our accounting arm.
A real business address
A registered Hong Kong address and mail handling — for the company, the bank and the file.
If Hong Kong isn't the answer
Compare Hong Kong against 150+ residency and citizenship routes worldwide before you commit to one.
Building the company behind a Hong Kong visa?
Tell us which scheme you're aiming at and we'll tell you what the entity, the accounts and the address need to look like for it to hold up.
Book a call Contact usScheme data from AbroadBase.com — your base, abroad. Always confirm current requirements with the Hong Kong Immigration Department.