The Top Talent Pass: A, B and C

Under the Top Talent Pass Scheme you do not need a job in Hong Kong when you apply. The notes below cover who qualifies, what counts as an eligible university, which papers are required, how long processing takes, what it costs, what conditions of stay apply, and what an extension requires. They follow the Immigration Department webpage and frequently asked questions on the scheme, checked 18 October 2026.

The main points of the scheme

1. You do not need to have found a job in Hong Kong when you apply.
2. After approval, the first stay on entry is generally 36 months for Category A, or 24 months for Category B and Category C, with no other conditions of stay.
3. Each applicant can be granted the initial stay arrangement only 1 time.
4. The scheme does not apply to nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The 3 categories

1. Category A: in the year immediately before the application, annual income of HK$2.5 million or above, or the equivalent in foreign currency. Annual income means taxable income from employment or from a business. It includes salary, allowances, stock options, and profits from a company you own. For business income, you are generally required to have held the shares in the company continuously throughout the whole year of assessment before you file. Income from personal investment does not count.
2. Category B: a bachelor's degree awarded by an eligible university, and at least 3 years of work experience accumulated in the 5 years immediately before the application.
3. Category C: a bachelor's degree awarded by an eligible university in the 5 years immediately before the application, with work experience of less than 3 years. Category C is subject to an annual quota, first come, first served.

The limit that matters most if you graduated in Hong Kong

Category C does not apply to a non-local student who obtained a bachelor's degree by studying a full-time locally accredited programme in Hong Kong. A non-local student is someone who came to study on a student visa or entry permit issued by the Immigration Department.

The people named in the official wording are non-local students who obtained a bachelor's degree by studying a full-time locally accredited programme in Hong Kong. A non-local student who obtained a bachelor's degree in Hong Kong cannot use Category C.

Other cases are not set out one by one on the webpage or in the frequently asked questions, checked 18 October 2026. For example, a bachelor's degree taken in the Mainland or overseas, with only a taught master's studied in Hong Kong. Do not decide that case for yourself. Before you file, you can telephone the Immigration Department, or you can ask in writing. If you are a non-local student who finished an undergraduate degree in Hong Kong, the most direct route in Hong Kong after graduation is the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG).

Eligible universities and the degree

1. An eligible university is an institution on the Aggregate List of Eligible Universities published by the Labour and Welfare Bureau. The list is drawn from 4 groups. First, institutions in the top 100, over the past 5 years, of the Times Higher Education ranking, the QS ranking, the U.S. News & World Report ranking, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Second, specialist institutions in the top 5, over the past 5 years, of the QS ranking for hospitality and leisure management. Third, Mainland universities in the top 20, over the past 5 years, of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranking of universities in China. Fourth, specialist colleges in the top 5, over the past 5 years, of the QS ranking for art and design.
2. A qualification from a school of continuing and professional education, a branch campus, an extension school, or an affiliated college set up by an eligible university is not accepted.
3. The qualification must be equivalent to the standard of a bachelor's degree recognised in Hong Kong. An honorary bachelor's degree is not accepted.
4. Graduated within the past 5 years is counted by the year of graduation.
5. Work experience means full-time or self-employed work experience accumulated after graduation.

Documents you need

1. A recent photograph, a valid travel document, and your Hong Kong identity card if you have one. If you are in Hong Kong, the travel document must include the latest arrival record and the e-Visa page.
2. For Category B and Category C: the official bachelor's degree certificate and transcript, and an authentication document issued by a third-party credential body or by the awarding institution, together with particulars that can be checked on the relevant online platform.
3. For Category B: proof of work experience.
4. For Category A: proof of annual income. For employed income, that can include a notice of assessment for the previous year of assessment from the local tax authority, a tax payment certificate, and the employer's proof of the value of stock options. For company income, that can include an enterprise income tax notice of assessment, a tax payment certificate, and proof of the company's financial position.
5. If you are a Mainland resident: a letter of consent to take up employment in Hong Kong, issued by your current work unit or by the relevant Mainland authority. See the annex to the immigration guidebook.
6. If you are a Chinese citizen living overseas and you hold a Chinese passport: proof of residence overseas. You must already have permanent resident status overseas, or you must have lived overseas for not less than 1 year immediately before the application and you must file from overseas.
7. A document that is not in Chinese or English must be accompanied by a certified translation.

If the income is not in Hong Kong dollars, the online system offers 17 other major currencies and converts the figure itself. If your currency is not one of them, convert the amount yourself, then upload the proof.

Processing time and fees

1. Processing is generally 4 weeks after the documents and the application fee have all been received.
2. The Top Talent Pass Scheme is one of the specified schemes. The application fee is HK$600, and it is not refunded, whatever the result. After approval you pay a visa issue fee. Where the visa states a fixed period of stay of 6 months or more, the fee is HK$1,300. The principal applicant and each dependant pay their own fees.
3. The Immigration Department sends the result by email. If the email is blocked, the notice may not reach you. If you need to, call the support hotline on 3128 8668.

Conditions of stay

A person who is approved is subject only to the limit of stay. During the permitted stay you may take up or change employment, or set up or join a business, freely. You do not need prior approval from the Director of Immigration. A dependant may work and study in Hong Kong, with no restriction.

Extension rules that are easy to miss

1. Apply online within the 3 months before the limit of stay expires. You should file at the latest 6 weeks before it expires. Processing is generally 2 to 3 weeks. While you wait for the result, you must leave before expiry unless the Director gives special approval.
2. When you file, you must show that you are employed in Hong Kong and have a stable income, or that you have set up or joined a business in Hong Kong. The first visa under this scheme does not require a job. The extension does.
3. If you are employed, the work must normally be taken up by a degree holder, or by a person with good professional or technical qualifications, proven ability, and documented experience. The pay and benefits must be at market level.
4. If you have set up or joined a business, the proof must show that the business is really operating in Hong Kong, that the operation is steady, that the business is sustainable, and that it contributes to the Hong Kong economy. The assessment looks at turnover, financial resources, the amount invested, the number of local posts, and similar factors.
5. If you are employed, the period granted is generally not more than 3 years, or runs until the contract ends, whichever is shorter.
6. If you did not submit the academic authentication document with the first visa under Category B or Category C, you must submit it with the extension.
7. There is a top talent category. If you have already stayed in Hong Kong under the Top Talent Pass Scheme for not less than 2 years, and your assessable income for salaries tax in the previous year of assessment was HK$2 million or above, the extension is generally 6 years.
8. Question 5 of the frequently asked questions: if, at the time you file or within the 6 months before you file, you have already been permitted to stay in Hong Kong under any talent admission scheme, or you are applying for an extension, the employing company must also complete the online form or ID 990B. If you have set up or joined a business, that company must complete it as well.

The Top Talent Pass Scheme or IANG

1. If you are a non-local student on a full-time local degree in Hong Kong, and the bachelor's degree was obtained in Hong Kong, Category C does not apply. IANG does not require a job first. Within six months, the stay is 24 months. It is usually the more direct route.
2. If you already have more than 3 years of work experience, and the bachelor's degree is from an eligible university, you can consider Category B. The first visa does not require a job. The extension requires you to be employed or to be running a business.
3. Neither scheme removes the employment requirement when you extend. An IANG extension also requires that you are already employed.

Sources

• Immigration Department webpage on the Top Talent Pass Scheme (checked 18 October 2026)
• Immigration Department frequently asked questions on the Top Talent Pass Scheme (checked 18 October 2026)
• Immigration Department, new fee structure for visa applications under specified schemes
• Labour and Welfare Bureau, Aggregate List of Eligible Universities (cited through the Immigration Department webpage)