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It is important to understand that Hong Kong is quite different, from an immigration perspective, than most other jurisdictions as residence visas are only available to foreign nationals to accommodate their specific reason for wishing to live in Hong Kong.

There are no ‘quality of life’ immigration programmes here like there are in countries such as New Zealand, the UK, Australia or Canada that allow you to apply for temporary or permanent residence simply because you like the place.

So, if you want to secure a visa for Hong Kong you need a rationale – and then you apply for a visa to pursue that rationale.

For example, if you wish to study, you apply for a student visa.

If you wish to take up employment, you need an employment visa – and a job offer before you make an application.

If you want to establish or join in a business, you need an investment visa.

If you wish to passively invest, you use the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme or if you believe you are a top notch talent you can apply under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme.

If you’re here to join your immediately family, you secure a dependant visa.

And so on….

Consequently, your immigration options in Hong Kong are quite limited and are anchored squarely to the specific rationale.

There really is no visa type that is catch-all or ‘best suited’ to you. At the end of the day, you have to decide why it is that you wish to be in Hong Kong, and apply for the exact visa that correlates with that rationale.

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