Immigration initiatives announced

IMPACT — MEDIUM

Authorities have announced a series of initiatives to attract foreign nationals to live and work in Hong Kong.

The changes were announced in the Chief Executive’s 2022 Policy Address. Authorities are planning to:

• Launch the Top Talent Pass Scheme. Through the program, foreign nationals will be able to live and work in Hong Kong for two years if they have an annual salary of at least 2.5 million HKD (about US$318,500) or they graduated from one of the world’s top 100 universities and have at least three years of work experience.
• Enhance the General Employment Policy and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, so companies can attract talent more easily in labor shortage areas.
• Suspend the annual quota for the Quality Migration Admission Scheme for two years.
• Increase the duration of stay for many immigration programs and streamline the visa renewal process.
• Lift the local employment requirement, lengthen the quota validity period to two years (from one year) and include emerging technology areas in the Technology Talent Admission Scheme.

Additional Information: More information regarding the planned changes is available in the policy address here.

BAL Analysis: Hong Kong authorities introduced a number of immigration initiatives to address labor market shortages and help the economy recover from COVID-19. Implementation dates have not been announced at this time. BAL will provide more information as it becomes available.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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