Hong Kong Work Visa Options in 2026: GEP, Top Talent Pass and QMAS Compared

Employment routes: GEP, ASMTP, TechTAS and IANG

The General Employment Policy is the standard route for professionals from outside the Mainland. According to the Immigration Department (ImmD), you need a confirmed job relevant to your qualifications or experience at pay broadly in line with the market, for a role that cannot readily be filled locally. Entrants get up to 36 months, or the contract length if shorter, and ImmD normally decides within four weeks of receiving all documents. Nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba and North Korea are excluded.

GEP also admits entrepreneurs who start or join a business in Hong Kong. ImmD’s guidebook sets no minimum investment; it weighs a three-year business plan, your financial resources and the local jobs you will create. The initial stay is up to 36 months.

Mainland residents use the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) on similar terms: it is quota-free with 36 months initially. The Technology Talent Admission Scheme (TechTAS) lets companies holding an Innovation and Technology Commission quota hire research and development staff normally with science, technology, engineering or mathematics degrees from a top-100 university; ImmD normally takes two weeks. A Technical Professionals Stream, running from 30 June 2025 to 29 June 2028, admits non-degree workers aged 18 to 40 in eight listed trades within a quota of 10,000.

Non-local graduates of locally accredited programmes can use the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG). Apply within six months of graduating and you receive 24 months without a job offer; later applicants need one. A pilot covers graduates of Greater Bay Area campuses of Hong Kong universities, and the 16 September 2026 Policy Address said it will be extended by two years.

Talent and investment routes: Top Talent Pass, QMAS and New CIES

The Top Talent Pass Scheme needs no job offer. Category A is for people with annual income of at least HK$2.5 million in the preceding year and grants 36 months. Category B covers bachelor’s degree holders from an eligible university with three years’ work experience in the past five; Category C covers graduates of the past five years with less experience, capped at 10,000 applicants a year. The eligible list has 200 institutions from January 2026. The 16 September 2026 Policy Address promised start-up founders backed by designated public bodies relief from proof of company income at extension; confirm timing with ImmD.

The Quality Migrant Admission Scheme needs no local job offer. Since 1 November 2024 the General Points Test has been a questionnaire of 12 criteria covering age, qualifications, language, work experience, income and business ownership, and you must meet at least six, for example age 50 or below or income of HK$1 million or more. There is no annual quota. Successful entrants receive 36 months; the Achievement-based Points Test, for exceptional achievements, grants eight years. Applications are assessed in regular selection exercises, so timing is less predictable.

The New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (New CIES) suits investors rather than employees. Invest Hong Kong assesses the money and ImmD issues the visa. You must show net assets of at least HK$30 million throughout the six months before applying for Net Asset Assessment, then invest at least HK$30 million in permissible assets, including HK$3 million in the CIES Investment Portfolio. Real estate counts only up to HK$15 million, of which HK$10 million can be residential. According to the scheme’s FAQs, for Net Asset Assessment applications from 1 November 2026, financial assets bought through non-designated accounts will not count towards the investment requirement.

Extensions, dependants and permanent residence

GEP, ASMTP, TechTAS and the QMAS General Points Test normally follow a three-year, then two-year, extension pattern after the initial 36 months. A top-tier stream, for people with two years under the scheme and assessable income of HK$2 million or more in the previous year of assessment, grants an extension without employment conditions: five years under GEP, ASMTP, TechTAS and QMAS, six under the Top Talent Pass and IANG. Your spouse or civil partner and unmarried children under 18 can join you if you can support and house them; their stay is linked to yours.

After seven years of continuous ordinary residence, you and your dependants can apply to the Director of Immigration for permanent resident status. Non-Chinese nationals must declare Hong Kong their permanent place of residence, and ImmD looks at habitual residence, family ties, reasonable income and tax paid.

Checklist: choosing and keeping a Hong Kong visa

• Allow about four weeks for GEP, ASMTP and Top Talent Pass decisions, two for TechTAS, and longer for QMAS.
• Budget for the HK$600 application fee and, on approval, a HK$1,300 visa issuance fee for stays of 181 days or more.
• File extensions up to three months before your stay expires, with proof of stable employment or a business.
• Employers: check the Talent List, which spares listed roles from proving local recruitment difficulty, and check Mandatory Provident Fund enrolment for sponsored staff.
• Keep records of residence, tax paid and family ties for the seven-year permanent residence test.