Hong Kong talent scheme: How foreigners can move without securing jobs
Hong Kong is offering highly skilled foreigners an opportunity to move to the territory without first securing a job, under a talent admission scheme designed to attract professionals and graduates from leading universities around the world.
The Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) allows eligible applicants to enter Hong Kong to explore employment opportunities without having an offer of employment at the point of application.
However, the opportunity is not available to every foreigner. Applicants must meet specific income, academic or work-experience requirements under one of three categories.
According to Hong Kong’s Immigration Department, the scheme targets high-income professionals as well as graduates of eligible universities.
Hong Kong talent scheme: Who can apply?
Foreigners seeking to use the Top Talent Pass Scheme must qualify under Category A, B or C.
Category A is for people who earned an annual income of at least HK$2.5 million in the year immediately before applying.
The income can come from taxable employment or business income, including salary, allowances, stock options and profits from a company owned by the applicant. Personal investment income is not included in the calculation.
This category is therefore targeted at high-income professionals who have already established themselves financially before seeking opportunities in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong talent scheme: What graduates need
Foreign graduates can also qualify without meeting the HK$2.5 million income threshold.
Under Category B, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from one of Hong Kong’s eligible universities and at least three years of work experience accumulated during the five years immediately before applying.
Category C is aimed at graduates from eligible universities who graduated within the previous five years but have less than three years of work experience.
However, Category C is subject to an annual quota and applications are handled on a first-come, first-served basis. The current annual quota is 10,000.
This means a recent graduate from an eligible university may have a route into Hong Kong even without the extensive work experience required under Category B.
Hong Kong talent scheme: Does an applicant need a job?
One of the major features of the TTPS is that applicants do not need to have secured employment in Hong Kong before applying.
The scheme allows successful applicants to enter Hong Kong and explore employment opportunities after arrival.
The Immigration Department says people admitted under the scheme are normally granted an initial stay of 36 months for Category A and 24 months for Categories B and C, subject to meeting the relevant immigration requirements.
This makes the scheme different from traditional employment-based migration routes where applicants generally need an employer and a job offer before obtaining permission to work.
Which universities are accepted?
Not every university qualifies under the graduate categories.
Hong Kong maintains an aggregate list of eligible universities for the TTPS. The list is compiled using several global university rankings, including the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, U.S. News Best Global Universities Rankings and the ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities.
The list also includes selected institutions specialising in areas such as hospitality and leisure management, art and design, as well as certain mainland Chinese universities.
Applicants under Categories B and C must have a bachelor’s degree from one of the eligible universities.
Hong Kong also specifies that honorary degrees are not accepted, while bachelor’s degrees obtained through online, distance-learning, evening, self-taught or part-time programmes do not qualify for Categories B and C under the scheme.
What happens after moving to Hong Kong?
The Top Talent Pass does not automatically guarantee a job.
Instead, it gives successful applicants permission to enter Hong Kong and explore employment opportunities.
Applicants are still expected to meet the immigration requirements and comply with the conditions attached to their stay.
The scheme is part of Hong Kong’s wider effort to attract international talent as the territory seeks to strengthen its workforce and address demographic and labour challenges.
The Immigration Department says the government’s broader talent policy is intended to complement the local workforce with non-local talent, professionals and entrepreneurs.
For foreigners who already have a job offer, Hong Kong also operates other admission routes, including the General Employment Policy.
Under that route, applicants generally need a confirmed job and must meet requirements relating to their qualifications, experience and remuneration.
The Top Talent Pass therefore provides a different option for a specific group of highly qualified foreigners.
For a high-income professional, an experienced graduate of an eligible university or a recent graduate from one of those institutions, the scheme can provide an opportunity to enter Hong Kong first and search for suitable employment afterwards.
However, meeting the basic eligibility requirements does not mean every applicant will automatically be approved. Applicants must provide the required documents and satisfy Hong Kong’s immigration authorities that they meet the conditions of the relevant category.