General Employment Policy (GEP)

The ordinary Hong Kong employment visa: a sponsored permit for a professional with a confirmed job offer from a local employer.

The employer supplies the company evidence, not you. Audited accounts, business registration and staffing numbers come from the sponsor, and a thin or newly formed Hong Kong company gets refused even when your own profile is strong. Mainland Chinese residents cannot use this route at all, even after years abroad, and must use the Mainland stream instead.

Programme snapshot

Item	Current rule
Main audience	Professionals from overseas, Taiwan and Macao with a confirmed job offer
Route family	skilled-work
Validity	36 months, or the contract length if shorter
Stay per entry	Tied to the sponsoring employer
Threshold	No fixed salary floor. The offer must be at the prevailing market rate, 2026
Renewal	3 years then 2 years, or 5 years under the top-tier employment stream
Settlement	Switch required
PR clock	7 years of continuous ordinary residence
Citizenship clock	None
Family	Spouse or recognised civil partner and unmarried children under 18
Local employment	Sponsor only, tied to the employing company
Tax headline	Territorial salaries tax, progressive to 17%, capped at 15% standard rate
Processing	About 4 weeks for the visa, 2 to 3 weeks for an extension

The local recruitment test

The employer must show the vacancy cannot be readily filled locally. Two things waive the test: the role is on the Talent List, which covers 60 professions across 9 segments after the 2025 review, or the post pays HK$2,000,000 or more a year, roughly USD 256,000.

Salary is judged as a package: basic pay, accommodation, medical cover and benefits all count. A low cash salary with a large housing allowance is scrutinised.

Application flow

Secure a written offer at the market rate for the role.
The employer assembles audited accounts, business registration and staffing evidence.
The employer files the visa application with your documents attached.
Immigration applies the recruitment test, or confirms the waiver.
The visa is issued and you enter to take up that specific post.
Extend before expiry, or file afresh if you change employer.

The entrepreneur stream

A separate stream covers founders establishing or joining a business. There is no published capital sum. The test is substantial contribution to the Hong Kong economy, assessed on business plan, turnover, investment, local jobs, technology or skills introduced, and financial resources. A one person consultancy with no revenue is refused, so budget professional fees and a longer timeline than the 4 week headline. Participation in StartmeupHK, HKSTP Incu-App, Incu-Bio or Incu-Tech, Cyberport Incubation, ITC SERAP or ESS, or HKDC Design Incubation attracts favourable consideration. You are both sponsor and sponsored, so if the company stops trading your extension fails.

Good fit

A professional with a real offer from an established employer, especially in a Talent List role or above HK$2,000,000. The top-tier stream suits anyone already here two years with HK$2,000,000 of assessable income last year.

Poor fit

Anyone without an employer, since the route cannot be self-initiated. Anyone paid below the market band. Mainland Chinese residents, who are outside the policy. Founders with no trading business.

Watchpoints

The permit is tied to one employer. Changing jobs needs a new application, and starting work first is a breach of condition.
The sponsor’s paperwork can sink a strong candidate. A newly formed company with no audited accounts is the most common refusal reason unrelated to the applicant.
The top-tier stream is not permanent residence. It gives a 5 year extension after two years here, but the 7 year clock still applies.
A company trading entirely elsewhere fails. The contribution test looks at genuine local activity, not incorporation.

Sources

Immigration Department, General Employment Policy, checked 2026-10-22
Immigration Department, admission schemes for talents, professionals and entrepreneurs, checked 2026-10-22