Background checks

In Hong Kong, a background check often sits just before the Offer, or just after it. Finance, professional services, education, healthcare, government, and public bodies do this most often. From the applicant's side, the notes below cover what is checked, which papers you need, which certificates you can get in Hong Kong and which you cannot, and the limits the law places on an employer. They follow the CHSI pages on checking a qualification and on authenticating one; the Hong Kong Police Force page and frequently asked questions on the certificate of no criminal conviction; the Police frequently asked questions on a criminal conviction record check; the Hong Kong Cross-boundary Public Services page on applying for a certificate of no criminal conviction; the summary page of the Code of Practice on Human Resource Management issued by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data; and the related questions and answers on the Community Legal Information Centre. Checked 19 October 2026.

What a background check usually covers

1. Education. Whether the degree you listed was in fact awarded, the date of graduation, and the major.
2. Work. The employer, the title, and the start and end dates. Sometimes the reason for leaving, and how you performed, through a referee at the former employer.
3. A professional qualification or a licence. Examples are an accountant, a solicitor, a person licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission, and a registered social worker. These can be checked on the public register of the relevant body.
4. A criminal record. This is mostly a declaration by you. Some posts have a special arrangement, for example work with children.
5. Identity, and permission to work. A Hong Kong identity card, and the visa.

Limits the law places on an employer

1. The data an employer collects should be enough for the purpose, and not more than that. It should be relevant to recruitment.
2. Before collecting it, the employer should tell you the purpose. That is the personal information collection statement.
3. In general, an employer may not collect a copy of your Hong Kong identity card during recruitment, unless you have accepted the Offer. The Community Legal Information Centre's questions and answers cite the Code of the Privacy Commissioner for this.
4. A check with a former employer, or with a referee, should have your consent.
5. Data on an unsuccessful applicant is generally kept for not more than 2 years from the date of rejection, unless there is a specific reason, or consent has been obtained.
6. The detail is in the briefing in this series on your personal data while you are job hunting.

In practice, the employer usually asks you to sign an authorisation for the background check. Before you sign, read which items will be checked, who will do the check (the employer, or a third-party screening firm), and how long the data will be kept.

Mainland qualifications: what CHSI can provide

CHSI (the Ministry of Education credentials service) describes its site as the Ministry of Education's site for checking qualifications. It provides the following.

1. A check by you. Register for a CHSI account, and log in to your CHSI file to see your own qualifications.
2. An ad hoc check. Enter the certificate number and the name.
3. A check by an enterprise user. An enterprise user can log in to the national platform for graduate employment services and check there.
4. The Ministry of Education's electronic registration record for a qualification certificate. There is a Chinese version and an English translation. Within the validity period, it can be verified online free of charge. An employer in Hong Kong, or a third-party screening firm, can check it with the online verification code.
5. The authentication report for a higher-education qualification in China. You can apply online or in person. The report number can be checked on CHSI. A CHSI announcement in 2018 states that the fee for authenticating a higher-education qualification has been cancelled.
6. Degrees. CHSI has a separate section for checking a degree.

What to prepare:

1. When you receive an Offer, or you reach a late-stage interview, generate the registration record from your CHSI file first, including the English translation. Watch the validity period. You can generate it again before it expires.
2. Write the online verification code, and the report number, on the background-check form. That cuts down the back and forth.
3. CHSI warns against scams that sell fake qualifications. Do not deal with anyone who claims they can handle the application for you, or change a qualification record.

For a qualification from a Hong Kong institution, or from an institution overseas, the employer or the screening firm usually checks with the institution directly, or asks you for an official transcript and proof of graduation. Ask your university in advance which channel it uses, and how long the check takes.

Work history and referees

1. Who to ask. A direct supervisor is the better referee. Next is a senior colleague in the same department. Get their consent first. Tell them the role you are applying for, and what they may be asked.
2. What to give. Name, title, company, relationship to you, email, and phone. Do not give a personal contact as a work referee.
3. A former employer often confirms only the title and the dates. That is common. Keep the following as further proof: the letter of appointment, and a leaving certificate or a certificate of employment; payslips, and tax forms (in Hong Kong, a copy of the employer's return); MPF statements (Mandatory Provident Fund).
4. The dates have to match. The start and end dates on the CV, the application form, LinkedIn, and the supporting papers have to be the same. A mismatch is the most common problem in a background check.

The certificate of no criminal conviction: a narrow use

1. The limit on use. The certificate of no criminal conviction issued by the Hong Kong Police Force may be used only to apply for an entry visa of some kind (travel, study, residence, and similar), or to adopt a child. An application for any other purpose is not accepted. You cannot apply for it for a job application.
2. What the application needs. You must submit a letter from a consulate, an immigration authority, or a government department, issued within the past 1 year. The letter must state your name, state that the certificate is required for an approval, and give that office's contact address.
3. Where the result goes. If there is no criminal record, the certificate is sent directly to the consulate or the government department. You do not receive the original or a copy. If there is a record, the department and you each receive the result.
4. The fee. HK$340 a person.
5. Fingerprints. From 30 March 2026, if you apply on the online platform with an iAM Smart account, and the purpose is not a matter concerning children or mentally incapacitated persons, you generally do not have to submit fingerprints. A special case may still require them.
6. Time. An online application that meets the conditions above takes 15 calendar days. If you submit it in person, or the case needs extra handling, the office aims to finish within 28 calendar days.
7. If you are outside Hong Kong. From 1 January 2026, you must apply through the Police online service platform. A postal application, a drop box, and submission by a representative are no longer accepted.

What you can do for your own purposes

1. A criminal conviction record check. This is a separate request from the certificate of no criminal conviction. Under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, you can ask the Police whether they hold a conviction record on you. You must apply yourself, on the online platform or in person at the Wan Chai office, and you must submit fingerprints. The result has to be prepared within 40 days. It is generally ready within 15 working days after the fingerprints are successfully taken. If there is a record, you receive a copy of the data. If there is no record, you receive only an oral reply. There is no written certificate. You cannot ask for one period only. Every conviction record is shown.
2. A declaration for private use. The Police frequently asked questions suggest that, if you need to show you have no criminal record and you do not qualify for the certificate, you may consider making a declaration or an oath for private use at a Home Affairs Enquiry Centre under the Home Affairs Department.
3. If an employer asks for the certificate. Explain that the Hong Kong certificate cannot be used for a job application. Offer the alternatives above, and ask which form the employer will accept.

A spent conviction

1. Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 297), section 2(1). You were convicted in Hong Kong, but you were not sentenced to imprisonment for more than 3 months or to a fine of more than HK$10,000. You had not been convicted in Hong Kong before that. 3 years have passed without a further conviction. That conviction is then spent. Apart from the limited exceptions in sections 3 and 4 of the Ordinance, you are treated as having no conviction record.
2. In the result of a criminal conviction record check, or in the reply issued with a certificate, the Police still list a spent record, and they add a note. The current Police system does not provide a service that clears a conviction record.
3. One example of an exception. The Social Workers Registration Board states that the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance does not apply to registration as a social worker. An applicant must declare a conviction in every case. For any other professional registration, follow that body's own requirements.

A list to prepare

1. Education. The CHSI registration record, in Chinese and in English, or the authentication report. For an overseas institution or a Hong Kong institution, the graduation certificate and the transcript.
2. Work. The letter of appointment, a leaving certificate or a certificate of employment, payslips, and MPF statements.
3. Referees. 2 or 3, with consent already obtained.
4. Qualifications. The professional certificate, and the number on the public register.
5. Identity. Passport, Hong Kong identity card, and visa.
6. Check that the spelling of the name, and the dates, match on every document.

Sources

• CHSI, pages on checking a qualification and on authenticating a qualification (checked 19 October 2026)
• Hong Kong Police Force, certificate of no criminal conviction, webpage and frequently asked questions (checked 19 October 2026)
• Hong Kong Police Force, frequently asked questions on a criminal conviction record check (checked 19 October 2026)
• Hong Kong Cross-boundary Public Services, webpage on applying for a certificate of no criminal conviction (checked 19 October 2026)
• Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, summary page of the Code of Practice on Human Resource Management (2016 revision, checked 19 October 2026)
• Community Legal Information Centre, personal data privacy, question 8 (checked 19 October 2026)
• Social Workers Registration Board, frequently asked questions (checked 19 October 2026)
• Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 297), section 2(1) (as cited in the Hong Kong Police Force frequently asked questions)