New Content Daily Sign Up Here

Updated October 2026

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

Summary of Legacy Position:

This article contrasts the high-capital, passive threshold of the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (historically HK$10 million) against the flexible, case-by-case nature of the Hong Kong Entrepreneur Visa (previously known as the Business Investment Visa) . It explains that while CIES set a rigid statutory dollar threshold, an Entrepreneur visa did not legally prescribe a fixed sum, historically allowing viable founders to secure approvals with modest cash in the bank (HK$300,000 to HK$400,000) provided their business story was compelling. But since October 2026, that’s all changed.

Compare & Contrast with the New CIES:

The Widening Gap: The statutory barrier between these two routes has widened dramatically. The New CIES now requires an absolute minimum of HK$30 million backed by a 24-month unbroken audit trail verified by a practicing HKICPA accountant.

A common area of confusion among high-net-worth entrants is whether holding a passive investor visa prohibits them from commercial operations. As Stephen Barnes, the Hong Kong Visa Geeza, has long established across our practice jurisprudence, Hong Kong immigration law permits passive investors to run an operating commercial business in Hong Kong without an entrepreneur visa. However, this unconstrained freedom must be sharply distinguished from the active operational burdens addressed in the Hong Kong Visa Geeza Entrepreneur Visa Advisory. Under the New CIES, an entrant is not required to create local jobs, execute commercial leases, or demonstrate taxable corporate profits to secure extensions of stay; their status rests entirely upon maintaining qualifying portfolio assets. Operating an active Hong Kong trading enterprise remains an unrestricted commercial right rather than a mandatory immigration condition.

The Hong Kong Entrepreneur visa (previously know as the Business Investment Visa) is different from the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme.

The former requires an applicant to establish or join in a Hong Kong business actively, while the latter is just a matter of passively investing in the HKSAR.

The New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme requires at least ten million Hong Kong dollars while the Business Investment Visa does not require any such minimum.

Instead, you need to have sufficient capital to give effect to a business plan which  will demonstrate to the Hong Kong Immigration Department that you can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong.

Of course, this is like asking how long is a piece of string.

So, instead of focusing on a specific minimum number, it is better to produce a set of financial projections that show the following:

1          You can finance the first 12 months of your business and life in Hong Kong using your investment funds through until such a time as you have revenues, then profits, coming into your company.

2         You can create at least 1 or 2 local jobs in the first 12 to 18 months of operation – and have the money to fund your business through to this time – and beyond.

3         You have sufficient capital to give effect to your overall business plan such that it stands a reasonable chance of becoming a solidly entrenched commercial entity in its own right before too long.

So it all depends on your business plan, your prior experience and the overall story.

A Hong Kong Entrepreneur Visa can be approved with cash in the bank at just 300,000 or 400,000 Hong Kong dollars if your story is a good one but be aware, bottom scraping should be avoided at all costs if you want to sleep well at night whilst the Immigration department are considering your application!

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!