Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Topics

2015 Hong Kong Immigration Policy Update – Capital No Longer Required – Why Was the CIES Suspended ?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Musing / No responses

PRACTICE UPDATE 2026 How the Content Must Now Be Read in Light of the New CIES Policy Our original commentary on the sudden January 2015 suspension of the legacy CIES examined Chief Executive CY Leung’s decision to halt passive wealth immigration. At the time, the government determined that importing passive capital—heavily concentrated in real estate […]

2015 Immigration Policy Changes – the Inevitable Suspension of the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Musing, VG Front Page / 1 response

PRACTICE UPDATE: October 2026 Summary of Legacy Position: Written upon the abrupt suspension of the original CIES by Chief Executive CY Leung in January 2015, this post analyzes why the government shut down the original programme. The administration pivoted away from passive capital importation—which had been heavily criticized for fueling local asset inflation without bringing […]

Capital Investment Entrant Scheme Suspended – Business Investment Visa Gets a Boost!

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Musing, Uncategorized / 2 responses

PRACTICE UPDATE: How the content must now be read in light of current ImmD policy: Historically, this landmark piece captured the seismic regulatory shift of January 2015, when Chief Executive CY Leung abruptly suspended the original Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES) and pivoted Hong Kong’s economic immigration policy toward active business creation via the Business […]

Hong Kong Visas From 39,000 Feet @ General Assembly – The HKD10 Million Capital Investment Visa

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Musing / 7 responses

PRACTICE UPDATE 2026 How the Content Must Now Be Read in Light of the New CIES Policy Our foundational masterclass presentation at General Assembly delivered a macro, “39,000-foot” overview of Hong Kong’s immigration landscape, framing the legacy CIES as the premier passive entry vehicle for high-net-worth individuals at a HK$10 million capital baseline. While that […]

Hong Kong Capital Investment Entrant Scheme – Video Presentation by the Hong Kong Visa Geeza

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Musing / No responses

PRACTICE UPDATE 2026 How the Content Must Now Be Read in Light of the New CIES Policy Our original video presentation walked prospective applicants through the procedural mechanics and asset parameters of the legacy CIES. While that presentation remains an essential archival reference documenting the scheme’s historic structure, viewers must note that its specific financial […]

InvestHK Israel Roadshow – the Hong Kong Visa Geeza Does It Tough!

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Musing / No responses

It’s a tough life helping to promote inward investment to Hong Kong, but someone has to do it… More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting 1. INFOGRAPHIC – One Man Investment Visa for Hong Kong 2. PDF – Information on the Hong Kong Business Investment Visa 3. PLAN – The Hong Kong Visa Application Roadmap 4. CASE […]

The Hong Kong Immigration Department Really Are Getting Tougher Across the Board Now…

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Musing, Refusals & Appeals, Special Programmes, Visitor Visas / 3 responses

It has taken me 21 years to make this claim…  I have been practicing in Hong Kong immigration advisory matters since 1993. All down those years, I have been asked countless times “is Immigration getting harder?’ and unflinchingly I have answered ‘no’. It has always been my experience that if you have an approvable case […]

Do You Need to Spend a Minimum Number of Days Per Year in Hong Kong In Order to Maintain a Capital Investment Entrant Scheme Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / No responses

PRACTICE UPDATE 2026 How the Content Must Now Be Read in Light of the New CIES Policy Our original article addressed a frequent concern for internationally mobile investors: whether maintaining a CIES visa requires spending a mandatory minimum number of days per year in Hong Kong. The short answer remains legally unchanged—there is no statutory […]

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Interview: Do You Think the Relatively Low Number of Foreigners Coming to Live and Work in Hong Kong is Due to it Being Hard to Get a Visa?

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Musing, Refusals & Appeals, Special Programmes / 12 responses

Coming to live and work in Hong Kong – on June 6th, 2013 I was interviewed by five law students from the Chinese University of Hong Kong about my experiences practicing immigration here over the last 20 years. We covered a great deal of ground in the 90 minutes we spent together and over the […]

Relocating to Hong Kong For Work or Business – Session Q&A

Posted by The Visa Geeza / in Employment Visas, Family Visas, Investment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Musing, Refusals & Appeals, Special Programmes, Visitor Visas / 3 responses

On June 13 I was invited to address the 2013 Monaco Trade Delegation to Hong Kong & China on the question of visas to live and work in Hong Kong. The Delegation was hosted by my good friends at Rosemont Hong Kong and I covered in a total of 50 minutes the whole sweep of employment and investment based visas as well as […]