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I recently gave a talk at Campfire Collaborative Space on the topic of how to start a business in Hong Kong as a foreigner, which in essence is the journey of getting a Business Investment Visa as an Entrepreneur after the implementation of the Enhancement Measures in 2015 and the Audit Commission Report Number 66 from 2016.

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

Historically, this installment addressed the central question that every foreign founder asks: how much capital is actually required to secure an investment as entrepreneur visa under the General Employment Policy. The Geeza historically debunked the myth that an applicant needed millions in startup capital. ImmD did not enforce a statutory minimum, operating instead on a pragmatic, bespoke standard: “enough money” simply meant sufficient funds to carry the specific business to profitability according to its realistic cash-flow projections. For lean consultancies, design studios, or professional service agencies, foreign founders routinely secured approval with modest seed capital of a few hundred thousand dollars, keeping overheads minimal through serviced offices and delaying local payroll until revenues materialized.

The game has changed from a flexible, plan-based capital test into an unforgiving, high-threshold corporate liquidity mandate. ImmD no longer accepts that “enough money” is defined by low-overhead business models or modest personal savings. Under post-April 2026 administrative practice aligned with TTPS Category A operational substance (~HKD 2.5M enterprise scale), financial adequacy is judged against hard institutional baselines. An applicant must demonstrate HKD 1.5M–2.0M in deployed corporate bank liquidity already sitting in the company’s local account. Furthermore, that capital cannot sit idle or be reserved for personal living expenses; it must actively support live operational hardware: an executed commercial lease for exclusive physical premises (“four walls”) and ongoing MPF payroll contributions for 2–3 local permanent residents. Launching a venture on lean seed funding of a few hundred thousand dollars without admission into an accredited government incubator will result in immediate, summary refusal.

In this segment I talk about how much money you need to have in order to fulfill the monetary requirement to anticipate a visa approval.

The Rest of the Talk

Introduction

How We Got Here

Must Have Resources

The Startup Visa

Business Investment As An Entrepreneur (Visa)

Three Elements To Approval

Have You Got Enough Money?

Is Your Business Sustainable?

A Properly Set Up Office

How About Local Jobs?

Economic Sector Advantages

Hiring Yourself

D-I-Y Application

Important Materials Referenced In The Presentation

10 Must-Have Resources for Any Hong Kong Investment Visa Application

Accredited Startup Programmes in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Visa Handbook Free Kits

Your Questions Answered

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