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Immigration & Employment

Visas

Hong Kong has business friendly immigration policies. As such, visitors from over 170 countries/territories can enjoy visa‐free entries to Hong Kong and stay for between seven to 180 days.

Working Visa Requirements

Short‐term visitors can make the most of Hong Kong’s light‐touch visa policies and are permitted to conduct business negotiations and sign contracts while on a visitor’s visa or entry permit. Foreign nationals working in Hong Kong for longer periods of time require a visa before they can live or work in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Visa Types

New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme
The new CIES will accept applications from eligible persons aged 18 or above (including foreign nationals, Chinese nationals who have obtained permanent resident status in a foreign country, Macao Special Administrative Region residents and Chinese residents of Taiwan). An applicant must demonstrate that he/she has net assets of not less than HK$30 million to which he/she is absolutely beneficially entitled throughout the two years preceding the application. An applicant must make an investment of a minimum of HK$30 million in the permissible investment assets, including investing a minimum of HK$27 million in the permissible financial assets and non-residential real estate, and placing HK$3 million into a new CIES Investment Portfolio. The Portfolio will be set up and managed by the Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited to make investments in companies/projects with a Hong Kong nexus, with a view to supporting the development of innovation and technology industries and other strategic industries that are beneficial to the long-term development of Hong Kong's economy.

Employment Visa

To employ overseas staff, you must demonstrate that a prospective employee has special skills, knowledge or experience not readily available in Hong Kong. The proposed employee must be sponsored by an employer in Hong Kong.

Entrepreneur Visa

The applicant should be in a position to make substantial contribution to the economy of the HKSAR, with consideration factors or startup businesses. Their startup business may be considered favourably if it is supported by a government‐backed programme with a rigorous vetting and selection process. For example:

  • Incu‐App, Incu‐Bio and Incu‐Tech programmes administered by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation;
  • Cyberport Incubation Programme;
  • Small Entrepreneur Research Assistance Programme and Enterprise Support Scheme administered by the Innovation and Technology Commission; and
  • Design Incubation Programme administered by the Hong Kong Design Centre.

People who successfully apply for a visa can bring their spouse and dependent children under the age of 18, provided they have sufficient funds and suitable accommodation. The limit on their stay is the same as the visa holder – who is officially the ‘sponsor’. A spouse holding a Dependant visa can undertake any type of lawful employment in Hong Kong.

For more information, please visit here.

Talent List

With a view to attracting high quality talents in an effective and focused manner to support Hong Kong’s development into a high value‐added and diversified economy, the Government introduced the Talent List that comprises 11 professions. Talents under the List are those who Hong Kong needs most in the immediate to medium term for the development of economy. For details, please visit here.

Other Details

Enhancement measures have been applied to the General Employment Policy (for both employment and investment), the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, and the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme.

The Immigration Department has also introduced an admission scheme for the second generation of Chinese Hong Kong permanent residents who have emigrated overseas and may apply to return to work in Hong Kong. For more details, please refer here.

Employment Policy

There are minimum entitlements in place for Hong Kong employees. More information on entitlements such as statutory holidays, Mandatory Provident Fund payments, sick and maternity leave and severance and long‐service payments can be found at the Employment Ordinance.