Hong Kong Investor Visa

The test has two parts. First, net assets or net equity to which the applicant is absolutely beneficially entitled must have a market value of not less than HK$30 million, held throughout the six months preceding the date the net asset assessment application is lodged with InvestHK.

Second, the applicant must invest not less than HK$30 million in permissible investment assets.

The applicant must also satisfy the Director of Immigration that they can support and accommodate themselves and their dependants without relying on any return on those investment assets, and without relying on employment, self-employment, office, business or public assistance in Hong Kong

Before the outcome comes the question of who may apply, because the scheme gates entry by the applicant’s status and not by money alone. The rules open it to four groups: foreign nationals;

Chinese nationals who have obtained permanent resident status in a foreign country; residents of the Macao Special Administrative Region; and Chinese residents of Taiwan.

Stateless persons also qualify where they hold permanent resident status in a foreign country with proven re-entry facilities.

Against that, a footnote in the rules excludes nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and states that the list of excluded countries is reviewed by the Security Bureau and the Immigration Department from time to time.

A moving list, to be checked at the date of application rather than copied from an older text.

The age condition is eighteen or above at the time of applying for the net asset assessment, not at the time of the visa application.

As for what is granted, it should be read at its actual size: the scheme confers a limit of stay conditional on continuing to satisfy its requirements, not a settled status.

The scheme's eligibility page does not address Hong Kong permanent residence; where it refers to permanent residence, it means permanent residence abroad that an applicant already holds.

The route to permanent status is set out on the Immigration Department's New CIES page: persons admitted under the scheme who have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years may apply for the right of abode in accordance with the law.

The programme timeline has three consecutive stages, and the first is not residence: once Approval-in-Principle has been given, the Immigration Department grants a visa or entry permit to enter Hong Kong on visitor status for not more than 180 days, within which the committed investment must be made.

At the second stage, after InvestHK verifies that the Investment Requirements have been met and the Department gives formal approval, the applicant and any dependants are normally granted permission to stay for not more than 24 months on time limitation only.

That is subject to the applicant continuing to satisfy the requirements of the Scheme throughout that period.

The third stage is extension, and this is where the figure changes:

Subject to continuously meeting the portfolio maintenance requirements under the New Scheme Rules and the normal immigration requirements, an extension of stay is normally granted for not more than three years, and further extensions of not more than three years follow the same procedure.

An extension must be applied for within three months before the limit of stay expires and, in all circumstances, at least six weeks before it.

One strict rule is stressed on the page: unless the Director of Immigration approves it in exceptional circumstances, a person subject to a limit of stay must depart Hong Kong before that limit expires, even if an extension application has been filed and is under processing.

Breach of a condition of stay, including overstaying, is a serious criminal offence carrying liability to prosecution and removal.

The page also states plainly that not all extension applications will necessarily be approved.

One truncating rule is easy to miss: the entrant and any dependants must leave Hong Kong on the expiry of the limit of stay or within two months after the Director of Immigration determines that the entrant or the sponsor has breached the undertaking, whichever is earlier.

As to the end point, a person admitted under the New CIES who has ordinarily resided in the HKSAR continuously for not less than seven years may apply for the right of abode in accordance with the law.

One technical requirement tied to duration can sink an application: when applying for an extension, the travel document must have validity of at least three and a half years

An applicant for extension of stay must be in Hong Kong at the time of application. Unless approved by the Director of Immigration under exceptional circumstances, a person subject to a limit of stay must still depart Hong Kong before it expires, even while the extension is pending.

Non-permanent residents, including persons admitted under the scheme and their dependants, do not need a re-entry visa if they return within their permitted limit of stay and the circumstances on which their residential status was acquired remain unchanged.

The right to stay is tied to the investment undertaking. An entrant must leave Hong Kong on the expiry of the limit of stay, or within two months after the Director determines that the undertaking has been breached, whichever is earlier.

The seven-year mark for the right of abode is recorded in the processing-time cell of this page. It is measured in continuous ordinary residence, so anyone aiming for the seven-year mark needs Hong Kong to be their genuine ordinary residence throughout, not merely a valid visa.

A spouse, or the other party to a civil partnership, civil union or same-sex marriage lawfully entered into outside Hong Kong and officially recognised by the authorities of the place of celebration; together with unmarried dependent children under the age of 18.

The sponsor must show the relationship is genuine, that they can support the dependant at a standard well above subsistence level and provide suitable accommodation.

A dependant length of stay is normally linked to that of the sponsor, and under existing policy dependants are not prohibited from taking up employment or studies in Hong Kong

The status this programme grants, whether a visa or a residence permit, does not replace the holder's passport. The holder still travels on the passport of their own country, so the figure below belongs to the Hong Kong passport and becomes the holder's only once they are issued a Hong Kong passport.

According to the Passport Index of Prosperous Intelligence, on data dated 30 September 2026, the Hong Kong passport reaches 189 destinations without applying for a consular visa in advance. The figure combines three forms of entry and does not count an e-Visa that must be obtained beforehand:

It is therefore a measure of how easily the holder travels, not a count of visa-free countries in the narrow sense.

For comparison, on the same source and the same method of counting, the Vietnamese passport reaches 44 destinations. The two lists of destinations do not nest inside one another, so the difference is an indication rather than a list of places newly opened.

Prosperous Intelligence dates its data and advises checking with the destination’s official authorities before travelling.

The New CIES carries no tax regime of its own, so a permit holder position is governed by Hong Kong general principle of taxation.

That principle is territorial, and the Inland Revenue Department states it this way: only profits which have a source in Hong Kong are taxable here, and profits sourced elsewhere are not subject to Hong Kong Profits Tax.

Put concretely, a person who carries on a business in Hong Kong but derives profits from another place is not required to pay tax in Hong Kong on those profits.

The Department draws the contrast itself, noting that many places instead tax the world-wide profits of a business, including profits derived from an offshore source, and that Hong Kong does not.

Under the Inland Revenue Ordinance a person is chargeable to Profits Tax only where three conditions hold together: they carry on a trade, profession or business in Hong Kong; that trade, profession or business derives profits; and those profits arise in or are derived from Hong Kong.

The first two are straightforward; the third is where the difficulty lies, and the Department says plainly that while the principle itself is very clear, its application in particular cases can at times be contentious.

The courts have over the years settled the principles for determining the source of profits, the first of which is that it is a matter of fact: the question of the locality of profits is a hard, practical matter of fact.

One point matters particularly to an investment visa holder: profits arising from the sale of capital assets fall outside the charge to Profits Tax.

This cell should be read within its scope: the cited source is a guide to Profits Tax on a trade, profession or business, not to salaries tax, and the version published on the portal is dated March 2011.

The Department itself recommends consulting professional advisers for anything deeper

For the purposes of Schedule 2 of the Immigration Regulations the scheme is a "specified scheme", so the principal applicant and each dependant must pay a non-refundable application fee and the corresponding visa issuance fee, for entry applications and for change of conditions of stay, including extensions.

The fee structure in force since 11 a.m. on 26 February 2025 has two tiers, in Hong Kong dollars:

The application fee is non-refundable in any circumstances irrespective of the result. The visa issuance fee is paid on approval. A visa stating a limit of stay of six months or more attracts the HK$1,300 fee.

The scheme normally grants up to 24 months on first entry and up to three years on each extension. The application fee and the visa issuance fee fall at different points and are not a single fee: each person in the application pays the HK$600 application fee on applying, and only if the application is approved with a period exceeding 180 days pays the further HK$1,300 visa issuance fee; an application that is refused or withdrawn still forfeits the HK$600.