Before the first day

If you have just arrived in Hong Kong, or you are moving from a student visa to a job, deal with the items below in this order. Each one states the official rule and where it comes from. The notes follow material from the Immigration Department, the Hospital Authority, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Stamp Office of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), the MPFA, and the IRD. Checked 18 October 2026.

Before you start: the visa and entry

1. Confirm that the visa has been approved, that you have paid the fee, and that you have the e-Visa. An approval under IANG (Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates), the Top Talent Pass Scheme, the General Employment Policy, or the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals is issued as an e-Visa.
2. On entry, show a valid travel document and the e-Visa (stored on your phone, or printed on a sheet of white A4 paper), and scan the QR code at the immigration counter.
3. A mainland resident must enter on an Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao, together with the relevant endorsement for Hong Kong. Notice ID 990A states that a person holding any other travel document will be refused entry.
4. A visa that carries a condition of employment (the General Employment Policy, or the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals): you may work only for the approved employer. Your start date should not be earlier than the date the visa is approved.
5. If you are already in Hong Kong on a student visa and you are switching to IANG, confirm before the student visa expires that IANG has been approved, or that you have applied for an extension of student status in the way the rules require.

Within 30 days of arrival: the Hong Kong identity card

1. The rule: a new arrival aged 11 or above, who is permitted to stay in Hong Kong for more than 180 days, must register for a Hong Kong identity card within 30 days of arrival.
2. A person permitted to stay for not more than 180 days does not have to register.
3. You must attend a Registration of Persons Office in person. Book in advance, online, through the Immigration Department mobile app, or by telephone on 2598 0888. Appointments are open for the next 96 working days. You can fill in the form online beforehand.
4. Processing generally takes 5 working days. You can generally collect the card on the working day after processing is complete.

A bank account

1. The HKMA states that banks in Hong Kong do not share one list of documents for opening an account. Each bank sets its own policy from its business strategy and its risk assessment. Some banks must also meet requirements set by a head office or by an overseas regulator. You can compare several banks.
2. A bank will generally ask for an identity document (a Hong Kong identity card or a travel document) and for address particulars. If the bank needs to verify the address in a particular case, it should tell you clearly why.
3. A bank may also ask for other documents, for example information connected with the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or with the automatic exchange of financial account information.
4. The HKMA's list of things a bank should not do includes the following. It should not refuse an application without carrying out customer due diligence. It should not require you to buy an investment or insurance product, or to place a large initial deposit, as a condition of opening the account. It should not link either of those to the chance of success or to the time taken to process the application.
5. A straightforward case can be completed within a few days once enough information has been provided. If you have a question about opening an account, you can raise it with the HKMA at the account-opening enquiry email listed on the HKMA website.
6. A practical point: before you start, confirm which type of account the employer needs in order to pay you. Before you have an identity card, ask the bank what it requires if you open an account with a travel document.

Renting a place to live

1. Stamp duty on a lease: the lease must be stamped within 30 days after it is executed. That period does not run from the date the lease starts. Every person who executes it, including the landlord, the tenant, and a sub-tenant, is liable to pay the stamp duty.
2. The rates: if the term is not more than 1 year, 0.25% of the total rent over the term. If the term is more than 1 year but not more than 3 years, 0.5% of the yearly rent or of the average yearly rent. If the term is more than 3 years, 1% of the yearly rent or of the average yearly rent. If the term is uncertain or is not fixed, 0.25% of the yearly rent or of the average yearly rent. Yearly rent, average yearly rent, and total rent must be rounded up to the nearest HK$100. The deposit is not included.
3. A lease that has not been stamped cannot be admitted as evidence in civil proceedings. Late stamping attracts a penalty. If the delay is not more than 1 month, the penalty is 2 times the stamp duty. If the delay is more than 1 month but not more than 2 months, the penalty is 4 times the stamp duty.
4. You can stamp the lease online through e-Stamping on GovHK.
5. You may claim the rent as a domestic rent deduction against salaries tax. The basic ceiling is HK$100,000 a year, and you must meet the IRD's conditions (see the salaries tax briefing in this series). Keep the lease and the payment records.
6. Before you sign, check the landlord's identity and title, the term and the renewal clauses, the deposit and the conditions for its return, who is responsible for repairs, who pays the government rates and the management fee, and the clause on ending the lease early.

Medical care

1. The Hospital Authority charges eligible persons and non-eligible persons at different rates.
2. Eligible persons include a holder of a Hong Kong identity card issued under the Registration of Persons Ordinance, other than a person whose card was issued on the strength of a permission to stay that has expired or is no longer valid; a child under 11 who is a Hong Kong resident; and other persons approved by the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority.
3. What this means in practice: if you hold IANG or a visa of the same kind, you have a Hong Kong identity card, and your permission to stay is still valid, you are charged as an eligible person. If you have not yet obtained the identity card, you are charged as a non-eligible person. Register for the identity card as early as you can.
4. Medical insurance provided by an employer is a benefit under the contract. When you start, confirm what it covers and how you use it.

Within 60 days of starting: MPF

1. The employer must enrol you in an MPF scheme within 60 days of employing you (the MPFA: full-time and part-time employees who are not exempt, aged 18 to 64).
2. Employer contributions are counted from the first day of employment. You have a contribution holiday for the first 30 days.
3. A person who comes to Hong Kong for employment and is permitted to stay for not more than 13 months, or who is a member of an overseas retirement scheme, is an exempt person.
4. After you start, check your MPF membership details and the first contribution record.

Tax: what the employer files, and what you set aside

1. If the employer expects you to be liable to salaries tax, the employer must file an IR56E within 3 months of employing you, and must give you a copy.
2. The individual tax return is generally issued on the first working day of May each year. You must file it within 1 month if you have no sole-proprietorship business.
3. If this is your first year working in Hong Kong, the first demand note usually includes both the previous year's tax and the current year's provisional tax. Set funds aside in advance.

Other practical matters

1. A mobile number: the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) states that the Telecommunications (Registration of SIM Cards) Regulation has been in force since 1 September 2021. You must complete real-name registration of a SIM card, including a prepaid card, with the original of your own identity document. Do not buy a prepaid card that is sold as already registered from a source you do not know.
2. Transport: an Octopus card can be used on public transport and for small payments.
3. A change of address: after you move, update the address held by the bank, the employer, the IRD, and the MPF trustee.
4. Keeping documents: keep a separate electronic copy of your passport, your travel permit, the e-Visa, the identity card, and the employment contract.

A timeline

1. Before you start: the visa is approved and you have the e-Visa. Prepare a copy of the contract and your academic certificates.
2. As soon as you can after arrival: book registration for the identity card (registration must be completed within 30 days).
3. After you receive the identity card: open a bank account, and update the employer's personnel records.
4. Within 30 days of signing the lease: have the lease stamped.
5. Within 60 days of starting: confirm that the employer has arranged MPF enrolment.
6. Within 3 months of starting: the employer files an IR56E, where that applies.
7. Every May: watch for the tax return.
8. 3 months before the visa expires: prepare the extension.

Sources

• Immigration Department, Registration / replacement of a Hong Kong identity card, page (checked 18 October 2026)
• GovHK, Settling in Hong Kong (checked 18 October 2026)
• Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Practical information on opening and maintaining an account, and What banks should not..., pages (checked 18 October 2026)
• Inland Revenue Department Stamp Office, Procedures and explanatory notes on stamping a lease, IRSD 119
• Hospital Authority, Definition of eligible persons and non-eligible persons (checked 18 October 2026)
• MPFA, Scope of the MPF system, and Enrolment of employees by an employer, pages (checked 18 October 2026)
• Inland Revenue Department, Tax obligations of an employer, page (checked 18 October 2026)
• Office of the Communications Authority, Real-name registration of SIM cards, page (checked 18 October 2026)