What is Hong Kong's Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS)?

High earners and graduates of highly ranked universities who want to come to Hong Kong without a job offer. The flagship of Hong Kong's post-2022 talent push. It lasts 24 months initially for most applicants, extendable once you are employed or running a business. Right of abode after 7 years of continuous ordinary residence — the same clock as every other route, and unconditional once earned.

What is Hong Kong's Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS)?

Skilled professionals without a Hong Kong job offer who don't qualify for TTPS — assessed on points rather than on income or university ranking. It lasts typically granted for 24 months initially, then extendable. The same 7-year right-of-abode clock.

What is Hong Kong's General Employment Policy (employer-sponsored)?

People with a Hong Kong job offer. Applicants from mainland China use the parallel ASMTP scheme instead. It lasts usually the standard 2-3-3 pattern of extensions, tied to employment. The same 7-year clock, provided residence stays continuous across job changes.

What is Hong Kong's Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES)?

High-net-worth investors. Relaunched in 2024 after more than a decade suspended. It lasts initial approval then extensions while the investment is maintained. The same 7-year clock, and the investment must be held throughout.

GlobeQuest

Moving from Ireland to Hong Kong

What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.

Ireland

Hong KongShort stay

Visa-free · 90 days

Ireland passport holders can enter Hong Kong without a visa and stay up to 90 days.

This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in Hong Kong — that needs a residence permit.

Passport Index · updated 17 February 2026Hong Kong's official immigration service

Long stay

How you actually move to Hong Kong

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified July 2026

Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS)

High earners and graduates of highly ranked universities who want to come to Hong Kong without a job offer. The flagship of Hong Kong's post-2022 talent push.

What you need

Category A: annual income of HK$2.5 million or more in the year before applying; or
Categories B and C: a bachelor's degree from a university on the scheme's eligible list, which reached 200 institutions with an addition in January 2026 — Category B for graduates with 3+ years of experience in the past 5, Category C for recent graduates without that experience
No job offer or employer sponsorship needed

How long it lasts: 24 months initially for most applicants, extendable once you are employed or running a business.
Path to permanent residence: Right of abode after 7 years of continuous ordinary residence — the same clock as every other route, and unconditional once earned.
Cost: Application and visa fees of a few hundred Hong Kong dollars.
Processing time: Now around 9 calendar days for many applicants, down from about four weeks, after ImmD began accepting digital degree certificates verified through CHESICC and Digitary.

Worth knowing

Whether your university is on the list is a binary test — check it before anything else, because there is no discretion around it.
Category C has an annual quota; Categories A and B do not.
The 24 months are unrestricted: you can work for anyone, start a business, or do both. That freedom is unusual and is the real value of the pass.
Hong Kong has no digital nomad visa, but TTPS functions as one for anyone who qualifies — with the crucial difference that it starts the seven-year clock.

Sources:ImmD — Top Talent Pass Scheme Hong Kong Immigration Department

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS)

Skilled professionals without a Hong Kong job offer who don't qualify for TTPS — assessed on points rather than on income or university ranking.

What you need

A points score under either the General Points Test (age, academic qualifications, work experience, language ability, family background) or the Achievement-based Points Test
Financial ability to support yourself and dependants without public assistance
Good education background: at least a first degree, in most cases
Clean record and good language ability in Chinese or English

How long it lasts: Typically granted for 24 months initially, then extendable.
Path to permanent residence: The same 7-year right-of-abode clock.
Cost: Modest visa fees.
Processing time: Longer than TTPS — commonly several months, as applications are assessed in batches.

Worth knowing

QMAS is the older scheme and TTPS has overtaken it for most eligible applicants. It remains the better option for people whose strength is credentials and experience rather than salary or university brand.
The Achievement-based test is for exceptional cases — an Olympic medal, a major international award — and almost nobody qualifies under it.

Sources:ImmD — Quality Migrant Admission Scheme Hong Kong Immigration Department

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

General Employment Policy (employer-sponsored)

People with a Hong Kong job offer. Applicants from mainland China use the parallel ASMTP scheme instead.

What you need

A confirmed job offer with pay and conditions broadly matching the local market
Qualifications, skills or experience not readily available in Hong Kong
The employer must show a genuine need for the role

How long it lasts: Usually the standard 2-3-3 pattern of extensions, tied to employment.
Path to permanent residence: The same 7-year clock, provided residence stays continuous across job changes.
Cost: Visa fee only; there is no levy on the employer.
Processing time: Around 4 weeks for a complete application.

Worth knowing

Changing employer requires a fresh application, and a gap in employment can jeopardise continuity of ordinary residence — which is what the seven-year clock actually measures.
Hong Kong applies no quota and no labour-market test here, which makes it markedly simpler than Switzerland or Singapore for a sponsored hire.

Sources:Hong Kong Immigration Department

InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES)

High-net-worth investors. Relaunched in 2024 after more than a decade suspended.

What you need

Net assets of at least HK$30 million for the two years before applying
Investment of at least HK$30 million in permissible assets, with a portion directed to a designated Capital Investment Entrant Portfolio
Residential property is only partly countable, and within a cap

How long it lasts: Initial approval then extensions while the investment is maintained.
Path to permanent residence: The same 7-year clock, and the investment must be held throughout.
Cost: The HK$30 million investment plus professional fees.
Processing time: Several months across the net-asset assessment and the investment verification.

Worth knowing

The relaunched scheme deliberately steers money away from residential property and toward the designated portfolio — assumptions carried over from the pre-2015 version are wrong.
Unlike Greece's or Portugal's programmes, this one comes with a genuine residence expectation because the seven-year clock requires ordinary residence.

Sources:Hong Kong Immigration Department

StudentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Student visa (and IANG for graduates)

Students at Hong Kong institutions, and their graduates staying on.

What you need

Admission to a full-time programme at an approved institution, which acts as sponsor
Proof of funds for tuition and living costs

How long it lasts: Course length; the IANG arrangement then gives graduates a further unrestricted stay.
Path to permanent residence: Study and IANG time both count as ordinary residence toward the 7-year right of abode — one of the most generous treatments of student time anywhere.
Cost: Visa fees plus tuition.
Processing time: Around 6-8 weeks; apply as soon as you have an offer.

Worth knowing

IANG imposes no job-offer requirement and no sector restriction — graduates get unrestricted access to the labour market, which is why the study-then-stay route is so heavily used here.
Because student years count toward the seven, a Hong Kong degree can put a graduate close to halfway to permanent status.

Sources:Hong Kong Immigration Department

On the ground

Where you'd land in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Skyscrapers against green peaks, dim sum and a self-sponsored Top Talent Pass — Asia's financial capital where 15% flat tax meets world-class transit and country parks.

Full Hong Kong guide