New Content Daily Sign Up Here

On April 28, 2016 Dragon Law, the Hong Kong Visa Centre and Cyberport co-hosted a seminar entitled Hong Kong Visas for Startups, Entrepreneurs & SMEs – Stuff That Counts

This segment takes you through the various visas that enable the ability to work in Hong Kong.

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

Historically, this presentation delivered at Cyberport alongside Dragon Law provided an accessible roadmap of the diverse immigration statuses that permit foreign nationals to legitimately work or run a business in Hong Kong. The Geeza walked founders through the full spectrum of operational permissions—comparing standard employment visas, working holiday schemes, Dependant visas, and the dedicated investment as entrepreneur stream under the General Employment Policy. The tone was practical and empowering: early-stage founders were advised that even without pre-existing unencumbered residency (such as a Dependant visa), establishing an independent venture was commercially accessible. Case officers routinely exercised broad discretion, allowing foreign entrepreneurs to establish lawful working status on the back of modest seed capital of a few hundred thousand dollars, a flexible serviced office or co-working membership, and a credible promise to phase in local employment over a two- to three-year ramp-up period.

The game has changed from an elastic menu of accessible working options into a stark institutional divide governed by hard operational hardware. ImmD no longer tolerates founders using lean setups or ambiguous working arrangements to establish commercial roots. Under post-April 2026 administrative practice aligned with TTPS Category A operational substance (~HKD 2.5M enterprise scale), securing permission to work via your own enterprise under the investment as entrepreneur route demands immediate, empirical substance: HKD 1.5M–2.0M in deployed corporate bank liquidity, an executed commercial lease for exclusive physical premises (“four walls”) disqualifying serviced offices and co-working desks entirely, and active Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) payroll contributions for 2–3 local Hong Kong permanent residents audited on day one. Unless an applicant already holds an unencumbered status or has secured formal admission into an officially accredited government incubator (such as Cyberport or HKSTP), relying on lean startup flexibility to secure working permission will result in swift and summary refusal.

You can download the Presentation slides here.

 The Rest of the Series

Starting Out

Visas Allowing Work

The Employment Visa

Entrepreneur Or ‘Startup’ Visa

The Study-then-Work Visa

The Work Visa For Mainlanders

The Training & ‘Intern’ Visa

The Working Holiday Visa

The Top Notch Talent Visa

Visas For Loved Ones

Resources, Resources, Resources

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

Dragon Law – Legal Services Powered by Technology

Cyberport – Supporting Technology Entrepreneurs