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On April 21, 2017 I gave a talk at WYND Co-working space in Lan Kwai Fong entitled 10 Steps to a Successful Hong Kong Entrepreneur Visa Application.

PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy:

Historically, Step 2 of this series addressed the foundational qualifying question every prospective founder needed to ask: do you actually have a visa problem, or do you already possess an unencumbered immigration status that allows you to start a business without ImmD’s prior permission? The Geeza regularly walked applicants through the landscape of alternative permissions, highlighting that holders of Dependant visas, Right to Land, Right of Abode, or working holiday permissions were entirely free to establish a business, sign leases, and trade without submitting to the entrepreneur approvability test. Even for those foreign nationals who did face an actual visa problem, the obstacle was framed as eminently manageable: securing an investment visa was an accessible administrative exercise that could be navigated with modest seed funding of a few hundred thousand dollars, a flexible serviced office desk, and a forward-looking plan to create local jobs over time.

The game has changed from a manageable administrative hurdle into an existential dividing line between those with existing immigration status and those facing an almost insurmountable corporate barrier. For foreign nationals lacking unconditional stay or dependant status, attempting to solve their visa problem via the standalone investment as entrepreneur route is no longer a viable option for bootstrapped or solo ventures. Under post-April 2026 administrative practice aligned with TTPS Category A operational substance (~HKD 2.5M enterprise scale), resolving an entrepreneur visa problem requires substantiating heavy corporate hardware on day one: HKD 1.5M–2.0M in deployed corporate bank liquidity, an executed commercial lease for exclusive physical premises (“four walls”) disqualifying serviced or co-working desks entirely, and active Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) payroll contributions for 2–3 local permanent residents. Unless a founder qualifies for elite unencumbered routes like TTPS, leverages a dependant visa, or secures entry into an officially accredited government incubator (such as Cyberport or HKSTP), treating an entrepreneur visa application as a routine administrative fix will result in swift and summary refusal.

This segment is Step Two –  Do You Actually Have A Visa Problem?

The Rest of the Series

Introduction

How We Got Here

Must Have Resources

The Startup Visa

Step 1 – Understand Policy

Step 2 – Do You Have a Visa Problem?

Step 3 – Are You An Employee?

Step 4 – A Substantial Contribution?

Step 5 – 3 Crucial Elements

Step 6 – Have You Got Enough $$?

Step 7 – A Properly Set Up Office

Step 8 – Creating Local Jobs

Step 9 – Economic Sector Advantages?

Step 10 – D-I-Y Application

DOWNLOADS

Presentation Slides

Accredited Startup Programmes in Hong Kong

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How to ensure you’re not breaking the law by operating a business in Hong Kong as a Visitor

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