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PRACTICE UPDATE 2026

How the Content Must Now Be Read in Light of the New CIES Policy

Our original analysis addressed the critical Year 7 milestone for CIES visa holders, examining the dual pathways available under the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115): applying for the Right of Abode (RoA) (Permanent Residency) versus opting for Unconditional Stay (UCS). While that statutory framework remains legally operative today, the compliance underpinning and portfolio exit mechanics have been fundamentally upgraded under the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme rules.

Under the modern regime, proving eligibility at Year 7 is no longer an ad-hoc immigration exercise. Because ongoing asset compliance is audited annually by InvestHK’s New CIES Office through certified financial intermediaries, the evidentiary foundation is established continuously throughout the seven-year continuum. For globally mobile principals, enterprise leaders, and family office heads who cannot satisfy the strict physical presence requirements of the continuous “ordinary residence” test under Section 2(4) of the Ordinance, Unconditional Stay continues to serve as an indispensable statutory safety net.

As Stephen Barnes, the Hong Kong Visa Geeza, emphasizes in our definitive New CIES Practice Direction:

“The critical structural advantage of the New CIES over all other entry channels remains the Year 7 exit. Whether securing the Right of Abode or electing for Unconditional Stay, the endorsement of permanent status formally extinguishes all ongoing investment covenants, granting the entrant indefinite leave to remain while allowing the immediate liquidation and repatriation of the entire HK$30 million portfolio.”

The Capital Investment Entrant Scheme has been a god send for reasonably well off people who have always fancied the idea of residence in Hong Kong but who were reluctant to start an operating business to be able to accomplish this. The following question raises the issue of how to disentangle yourself from the visa, releasing your CIES investment funds (either HKD6.5 or 10 million depending on when you were approved) at the end of your 7th year holding that status.

QUESTION

“Hi Visa Geeza, my family has invested with HK under the CIES and have been granted Identity Cards thereafter. (Pls note that we are not employed nor running a business in HK – but outside – so we are not considered as expats.) This year marks our 7th year and we would like to apply for permanent residency. We know that applicants under CIES need not to stay in Hong Kong as much as those who are applying simply for permanent residency. Could you tell us where we can find the eligibility requirement specifics for applicants from the CIES particularly for the required number of days stay in Hong Kong for the last 7 years?  Thank you.”

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