Persons applying for a visa / entry permit under the TTPS to take up employment in Hong Kong shall meet the eligibility criteria of one of the following categories:
- Category A: Persons with annual income reaching HK$2.5 million or above, or its equivalent in foreign currency, in the year immediately preceding the date of application. Annual income means taxable employment or business income including salary, allowances, stock options and profits from self-owned companies. Income generated from personal investment will not be taken into consideration;
- Category B: Degree graduatesNote 1 of the eligible universitiesNote 2 with at least three years of work experience over the past five years immediately preceding the date of application; or
- Category C: Degree graduatesNote 1 of the eligible universitiesNote 2 in the past five years immediately preceding the date of application with less than three years of work experience, subject to an annual quota which is to be allotted on a first-come, first-served basis; however, Category C does not apply to those non-local studentsNote 3 who have obtained the undergraduate qualification in a full-time and locally-accredited programme in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (hereafter “HKSAR”).
Note 1:
The level of academic qualifications of applicants obtained from the eligible universities must be equivalent to the recognised Hong Kong standard of bachelor’s degrees. For the avoidance of doubt, honourary bachelor’s degrees will not be accepted.
Note 2：
The eligible universities refer to those universities/ institutions on the aggregate list of eligible universities (hereafter “the aggregate list”), which is compiled by the Labour and Welfare Bureau. The aggregate list is based on (i) the top 100 universities/ institutions in four designated world university rankings in the past 5 years, namely Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, U.S. News and World Report’s Best Global Universities Rankings and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities; (ii) the top five universities/institutions providing specialised hotel programmes on the QS World University Rankings in the discipline of “hospitality and leisure management” in the past five years; and (iii) the top 20 Mainland universities under the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Best Chinese Universities Ranking in the past five years and (iv) the top five specialised institutionson the QS World University Rankings in the discipline of “Art and Design” in the past five years. For the avoidance of doubt, the academic qualifications obtained from the continuing and professional education arms, the branch schools, the extension schools or the subsidiary schools, etc., established by the eligible universities will not be accepted. For the latest aggregate list, please click here.
Note 3：
Non-local students refer to persons entering the HKSAR for the purpose of education with a student visa/entry permit issued by the Director of Immigration.
Please click here to submit an online application and upload the supporting documents.
For the supporting documents required for the application, please refer to the “Guidebook for TTPS”.
You will be notified of your application result by email. However, if the email address is invalid/incorrect or your email server (e.g. spam filter) blocks or deletes the notification, it will result in failure in delivery of the notification by electronic means. If necessary, please call the Technical Support Hotline at (852) 3128 8668.
For those applicants under Category A of the TTPS, they may submit notice of salaries tax assessment of the previous assessment year issued by a local competent authority (e.g. taxation office or revenue department, etc.), documentary proof issued by the applicant’s employing company specifying the value of the stock options granted to the applicant, documentary proof of financial standing of the applicant’s self-owned companies (e.g. the latest audited financial report, trading profit and loss account, or profit tax return, etc.) (if applicable).
In addition to Hong Kong dollar, there are 17 other major currencies available in the online application service for applicants to choose from, including the Chinese renminbi, U.S. dollar, Sterling, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Singapore dollar, New Taiwan dollar, Swiss franc, Korean won, Thai baht, Malaysian ringgit, Euro, Philippine peso, Indian Rupee, Indonesian Rupiah and South African Rand. After the applicant selects the currency, the computer system will automatically convert the applicant's income into Hong Kong dollars.
If the applicant's income is not denominated in Hong Kong dollars or one of the 17 foreign currencies mentioned above, he/she may convert his/her income into Hong Kong dollars or one of the 17 foreign currencies when submitting the online application, and then upload the relevant supporting documents to the Immigration Department for assessment.
The level of academic qualifications of applicants obtained from the “eligible universities” must be equivalent to the recognised Hong Kong standard of bachelor’s degrees. For the avoidance of doubt, honourary bachelor’s degrees will not be accepted.
No. If you wish to apply for Category B or C under the TTPS, you must have a bachelor's degree from one of the "eligible universities”.
Persons holding a bachelor’s degree awarded by online/distance learning or evening/self-taught/part-time study in the “eligible universities” are not eligible for Category B or C under TTPS.
Applicants may click here to view the latest aggregate list of the “eligible universities”.
The application cannot be processed if the applicant is unable to provide the proof of graduation. Applicants should submit applications after they have obtained their certificates or proof of graduation.
The relevant work experience shall be accumulated from full-time employment, or else self-employment, after graduation.
Graduation in the past five years is counted by “year of graduation”. For example, persons graduated from the eligible universities with a qualification of bachelor’s degree in 2018 may submit an application under Category C no later than 31 December 2023.
The aggregate list is compiled by the Labour and Welfare Bureau and is based on (i) the top 100 universities/institutions in four designated world university rankings in the past 5 years, namely Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, U.S. News and World Report’s Best Global Universities Rankings and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities; (ii) the top five universities/institutions providing specialised hotel programmes on the QS World University Rankings in the discipline of “hospitality and leisure management” in the past five years; and (iii) the top 20 Mainland universities under the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Best Chinese Universities Ranking in the past five years and (iv) the top five specialised institutionson the QS World University Rankings in the discipline of “Art and Design” in the past five years. Please click here for the latest aggregate list.
As long as the applicant submits an application for Category C under the TTPS with a bachelor's degree qualification awarded by one of the “eligible universities” within the past five years, and the applicant is not eligible to apply for the IANG with that bachelor's degree qualification, his/her Category C application under the TTPS will be accepted.
For joint programmes, the applicant is eligible to apply for the TTPS provided that all the relevant awarding institutions/universities are among the “eligible universities”, and that the applicant is able to meet the other eligibility criteria for the concerned category of the TTPS.
At present, the annual quota for Category C of the TTPS is 10 000.
Applicants are required to submit verification proof issued by a third-party credential verification organisation or the awarding institution regarding their academic qualifications, and to provide necessary information for the Immigration Department to conduct online authentication on respective platforms. Applicants may click here to view the “List of Third-party Credential Verification Organisations”.
Persons admitted under the TTPS, regardless of their application category, will normally be granted an initial stay of 36 months (Category A) / 24 months (Categories B and C) on time limitation only without other conditions of stay upon entry.
Persons admitted under the TTPS are free to take up and change employment during their permitted stay without the need to seek prior approval from the Immigration Department.
Non-permanent residents of the HKSAR (including persons admitted under the TTPS and their dependants), irrespective of their nationality and type of travel document held, do not require a re-entry visa/entry permit to enter the HKSAR provided that they return within the currency of their permitted limit of stay and that the circumstances upon which they have acquired their residential status remain unchanged. Please click here for details.
If you have been admitted under the TTPS, you may apply to bring your spouse or the other party to a same-sex civil partnership, same-sex civil union, “same-sex marriage”, opposite-sex civil partnership or opposite-sex civil union entered into by you in accordance with the local law in force of the place of celebration and with such status being legally and officially recognised by the local authorities of the place of celebrationNote 4, and your unmarried dependent children under the age of 18 as dependants. You must, to the satisfaction of the Director of Immigration, be able to support the dependants' living at a standard well above the subsistence level and provide them with suitable accommodation in the HKSAR.
Note 4：
For the avoidance of doubt, the terms “civil partnership” and “civil union” above mean a legal institution of a nature which is akin to spousal relationship in a marriage. The same-sex civil partnership, same-sex civil union, “same-sex marriage”, opposite-sex civil partnership and opposite-sex civil union entered into in accordance with laws outside Hong Kong are limited to only relationships which are legally and officially recognised in the places of celebration. Such relationships normally have the following features: (a) the entering into and dissolution of the relationship are governed by legislation of the place where it is entered into; (b) the relationship requires registration by the competent authority specified by the legislation of the place where it is entered into; (c) the registration is evidenced in a written instrument issued by the competent authority; and (d) parties to the relationship have a mutual commitment to a shared life akin to spouses to the exclusion of others on a permanent basis. Such relationships do not include de facto spouse, partners in cohabitation, fiancé/fiancée, etc.
No. If you wish to apply for the TTPS, you can submit your application for yourself and your accompanying dependants together through the online application service. You can apply for up to eight accompanying dependants in one online application
Yes. For details, please click here.
Under the prevailing policy, the aforementioned persons are allowed to take up employment or study if they are permitted to reside in Hong Kong as dependant.
Persons admitted under the TTPS may apply for extension of stay in the HKSAR online within four weeks# before their limit of stay expires.
Upon applying for extension, applicants are required to prove either that they have taken up employment in the HKSAR with a stable income, or that they have established or joined in a business in the HKSAR. Successful applicants will normally be granted an extension of stay on time limitation only without other conditions of stay for not more than three years, or until the expiry of their employment contract in the HKSAR, whichever is shorter.
For details of the supporting documents required, please refer to the “Guidebook for TTPS” through this link here.
# From 1 November 2024, the acceptance period for extension of stay applications under the TTPS is temporarily extended from 4 weeks to 3 months, prior to the expiry of the current limit of stay.
The Immigration Department will assess each case on its own merits having regard to the skills and knowledge needed for the job, complexity of the duties, etc.
Persons admitted under the TTPS who meet the criteria stipulated in answer 27 and fulfil the following criteria at the time of application for extension of stay may apply for assessment under the top-tier employment stream:
- the applicant has been permitted to remain in the HKSAR under the TTPS for not less than two years; and
- the applicant has an assessable income for salaries tax of not less than HK$2 million in the previous year of tax assessment.
Successful applicants will normally be granted an extension of stay on time limitation only without other conditions of stay for a period of six years.
Upon applying for extension of stay, applicants are required to have secured an offer of employment which is at a level commonly taken up by degree holders or persons with good professional/technical qualifications, proven professional abilities and/or relevant experience and achievements supported by documentary evidence, and the remuneration package is at market level. For those who have established or joined in business in the HKSAR, they are required to produce proof of their business. Applicants may be refused further extension of stay if they fail to prove that they will continue to work in the HKSAR or they have established or joined in business.
No. Successful applicants under the TTPS will normally be granted an "initial stay" of 24 months on time limitation only without other conditions of stay upon entry. In order to prevent abuse, applicants of the TTPS can only be granted such “initial stay” once. If the person admitted under the TTPS has left Hong Kong subsequently and his/her limit of stay has expired, he/she can only apply to return to Hong Kong for employment or residence, etc. through immigration policies or schemes other than the TTPS.
