A clear, evidence-first route to working in Hong Kong on the General Employment Policy — built around a confirmed job offer, your qualifications, and a documentation file that stands up to scrutiny.
Last updated: June 2026 — reviewed against Hong Kong Immigration Department (immd.gov.hk) program settings.
Free Hong Kong GEP Assessment — eligibility review, job-offer checks, Top-Tier and Technical Professionals streams, and the 7-year path to right of abode.
Get Assessment| Hong Kong General Employment Policy (GEP) Visa | |
|---|---|
| Governing authority | Immigration Department, Government of the HKSAR |
| Core requirement | Confirmed HK job offer relevant to qualifications; good education (normally a first degree, or strong technical qualifications / proven experience) |
| Initial stay | 36 months, or contract length, whichever is shorter |
| Quota / sector | Quota-free, non-sector-specific (standard GEP) |
| Path to PR | 7 years' continuous ordinary residence → may apply for right of abode |
| As of | June 2026 (source: immd.gov.hk) |
We assist applicants based in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, Kuwait City, Muscat, Manama, as well as across India and Sri Lanka. Our role is to turn a complex employment-visa process into a clear, executable plan — and to make sure your file is ready before it is submitted.
The objective is not speed alone — it is correctness, consistency, and a documentation file that holds up.
To qualify for the Hong Kong GEP visa you need a confirmed job offer relevant to your qualifications that cannot be readily filled locally, good education (normally a first degree in the relevant field, or strong technical qualifications and proven experience), no security or serious-criminal objection, and remuneration broadly in line with the prevailing Hong Kong market level. The Immigration Department assesses each of these together.
In practice, the job offer is the anchor. Everything else — your degree, your experience, the salary package — is read against that role. Remuneration here means the whole package: income, accommodation, medical cover and fringe benefits. The most common reason a self-prepared GEP file stalls is a job offer or a CV that doesn't clearly show why a local candidate couldn't do the work. Find out where you stand — free assessment.
The initial Hong Kong GEP stay is 36 months on the employment condition, or the length of your employment contract, whichever is shorter, according to the Immigration Department. Extensions normally follow a three-year pattern (again, or the contract length if shorter). This supersedes older "2-year initial / 2-3-3" descriptions.
You can apply to extend your stay within three months (90 days) before your limit of stay expires. As a general guide, an initial application is processed in around four weeks, and a routine extension in roughly two to three weeks — official processing times govern. Sequencing the renewal early is the simplest way to avoid a gap.
The Top-Tier stream rewards established high earners on the GEP or ASMTP. A holder who has stayed at least two years and had assessable salaries-tax income of at least HK$2 million in the previous assessment year may be granted an extension on a time-limitation-only basis — no other conditions of stay — normally for six years. These enhancement measures apply to applications submitted on or after 28 December 2022.
There is a related admission facilitation: an employer need not demonstrate local-recruitment difficulty if the post is among the 13 Talent-List shortage professions, or offers an annual total remuneration package of at least HK$2 million. The HK$2 million figures here are government thresholds set by the HKSAR (as of June 2026, per immd.gov.hk) — not Cosmos fees, and not every applicant will meet them.
Yes — the Technical Professionals (TP) stream under the GEP/ASMTP is a pilot for non-degree professionals aged 18 to 40 in eight specified skilled trades. It launched on 30 June 2025 and runs to 29 June 2028, with an overall quota of 10,000 places over three years, a per-trade cap of 3,000, and first-come-first-served allocation.
The eight covered trades are new-industrialisation technicians, nurses, aircraft maintenance technicians, marine services technicians (local vessels), IT technicians, lift and escalator technicians, building information modelling (BIM) coordinators, and electrical technicians. Initial stay is 24 or 36 months depending on whether the trade needs local registration or licensing, with extensions up to 36 months or the contract length, whichever is shorter. Because the quota is capped and allocated first-come-first-served, it can exhaust before the pilot ends.
The route to permanent residence is seven years of continuous ordinary residence in the HKSAR, after which you may apply for the right of abode, according to the Immigration Department. There is no shortcut around the seven-year requirement; the GEP and its extensions are simply how you maintain lawful residence over that period.
Your spouse and unmarried children under 18 can be admitted as dependants, and time spent in Hong Kong on a dependant visa can also count towards the seven years. The practical task is keeping continuous, lawful residence across each renewal — which is exactly where sequencing extensions early matters most.
Cosmos Immigration provides structured planning, documentation preparation and case management for the Hong Kong GEP. We hold immigration registrations for Canada, Australia and New Zealand; we do not hold a Hong Kong immigration licence. For Hong Kong matters, applications are prepared and submitted through government-authorised agents and regulated legal practitioners in our network, while Cosmos coordinates your eligibility, documentation and case management.
All criteria and figures are set by the Hong Kong Immigration Department and are subject to change; verified against official sources as of the date shown.
The GEP is an employer-sponsored route: it needs a confirmed Hong Kong job offer. It is not self-directed, and it is not a startup or founder visa — no copy here should suggest entry without a sponsoring employer, or a guaranteed result.
Permanent residence (right of abode) requires seven years of continuous ordinary residence — there is no shortcut. The Top-Tier and Talent-List salary waivers are tied to a HK$2 million income or package threshold that not all applicants meet.
The Technical Professionals stream is a time-limited pilot ending 29 June 2028, with a hard 10,000 / 3,000 quota allocated first-come-first-served — the quota can exhaust. We state these caps as facts, not as pressure. We'd rather tell you in your first session whether this route genuinely fits — even if the answer is no.
The GEP is an income- and employment-based route, not an investment or citizenship-by-investment programme, so the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) does not apply in the way it would to a fund transfer. For general awareness only: Hong Kong permanent residence (right of abode) is a residence status, not a second citizenship, and does not by itself terminate Indian citizenship — under the Citizenship Act 1955, section 9, Indian citizenship ends only when a person voluntarily acquires the nationality of another country.
This is general information, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Personal-situation questions are best resolved in an assessment with reference to your own circumstances.
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Yes. The General Employment Policy requires a confirmed Hong Kong job offer relevant to your qualifications and experience that cannot be readily filled locally, according to the Immigration Department. It is an employer-sponsored route, not a self-directed or startup visa.
The initial period of stay is 36 months, or the length of your employment contract, whichever is shorter. Extensions normally follow a three-year pattern, and you can apply to extend within three months before your limit of stay expires.
After seven years of continuous ordinary residence in the HKSAR you may apply for the right of abode (permanent residence). Your spouse and unmarried children under 18 can be admitted as dependants, and dependant time can count towards the seven years.
A GEP or ASMTP holder who has stayed at least two years and had assessable income of at least HK$2 million in the previous assessment year may be granted a condition-light extension, normally for six years. These enhancement measures apply to applications submitted on or after 28 December 2022.
Yes — the Technical Professionals pilot covers eight skilled trades for non-degree professionals aged 18 to 40. It runs from 30 June 2025 to 29 June 2028, with an overall quota of 10,000, a per-trade cap of 3,000, and first-come-first-served allocation that can exhaust.
Cosmos Immigration is a regulated immigration consultancy founded in Dubai in 2014, working through CICC-, MARA- and IAA-registered professionals, with offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hyderabad and Oakville. Those registrations cover Canada, Australia and New Zealand; we do not hold a Hong Kong immigration licence. For Hong Kong matters, applications are prepared and submitted through government-authorised agents and regulated legal practitioners in our network, while Cosmos coordinates eligibility, documentation and case management. You can verify our credentials yourself on the official regulators' public registers — look us up by name, free, in about two minutes. Verify Our Credentials
Cosmos Immigration is a private consultancy, not a government body. Program criteria and figures are set by the Hong Kong Immigration Department and are subject to change; verified against official sources as of the date shown.
Start with a free assessment, not a sales pitch — or message us on WhatsApp. We'll tell you honestly whether the Hong Kong GEP fits your profile — even if the answer is no.
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