Hong Kong Employment Visas: The Employer's Duty to Check

At a glance

Eligibility, application requirements, processing times and penalties for each scheme are as most recently published by the Immigration Department.

The first step is always checking documents, not applying for a visa

The law requires an employer, before employing someone, to take all practicable steps to establish that the person may lawfully be employed. Two things at minimum:

One: inspect the identity card. A “Hong Kong permanent identity card” states that status on its face, and such a person is free to take employment.

Two: if it is not a permanent identity card, inspect a valid travel document as well. The point is not the passport itself but the landing label inside it — which states the limit of stay and the conditions, such as “employer: XX Limited” or “employment prohibited”. A condition tying the person to a particular employer means they cannot work for you.

Employing a person not lawfully employable is a serious criminal offence carrying a fine and imprisonment, and the company’s directors, managers, secretary and partners can all incur criminal liability with it. Failing to inspect the documents as required is itself a separate offence.

A practical suggestion: check, photocopy and file. If something goes wrong, that record is your only basis for a defence.

The sponsored schemes: GEP and ASMTP

The two are structured almost identically; the main difference is where the applicant comes from — the GEP applies to non-Mainland residents, the ASMTP to Mainland residents.

The general considerations include:

• The applicant has a good education background (usually a degree in the relevant field), or good technical qualifications, proven professional ability and/or experience
• The vacancy genuinely exists and cannot be readily filled locally
• The remuneration package is broadly comparable to the prevailing market level in Hong Kong

The employer normally has to produce: company documents (business registration certificate, annual return), evidence of business operations, the job description and organisation structure, records of the recruitment process, and the terms of employment.

The key point: this kind of visa is tied to the employer and the post. It is not granted to the individual to carry around. An employee changing jobs has to apply again; a change of company name, a restructuring or a significant change in the nature of the post all have to be notified to Immigration.

If your company was only recently formed and has little trading history, this kind of application takes more work to show the post genuinely exists — operational traces (contracts, customers, bank activity) count for more than a well-written job description.

The ones you do not sponsor

Top Talent Pass — eligible people apply themselves, and once approved may come to Hong Kong first and look for work afterwards. Hiring one of them is much like hiring a local; no immigration application is needed from you.

IANG (Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates) — non-local graduates of Hong Kong institutions apply themselves to stay and work, again with no employer sponsorship.

Quality Migrant Admission Scheme — points-based, applied for by the individual, not tied to an employer.

Dependant visa — generally free to take employment, but read the individual conditions of stay.

What these have in common: no application from you does not mean no checking by you. Once the limit of stay passes, the person is no longer lawfully employable — and it is you who bears the consequence. So record the expiry date when they join, and put it in the calendar with your other deadlines.

Renewal and departure: two easy points to get wrong

Renewal is generally applied for about 4 weeks before the limit of stay expires. Too early and it is returned; too late and it runs into the deadline — and once that passes, the person cannot continue working.

Departure involves two things at once: the basis for a sponsored visa has gone and Immigration has to be notified; and on the tax side, if the employee is leaving Hong Kong you file an IR56G, and no payment may be made to them until the IRD consents.

The two usually happen on the same day, and it is easy to do only one. For the IR56G detail, see how to complete the employer’s return.

A visa is the entry ticket; the statutory duties apply the same

Once the visa is granted, the person is an ordinary employee: annual leave, statutory holidays and notice periods under the Employment Ordinance all apply, employees’ compensation insurance is compulsory, and the employer’s return is still filed.

MPF is the one thing that may differ — people here on particular visas for a limited period of employment, or already members of an overseas retirement scheme, may be exempt. The exemption has definite conditions; do not guess, check each case against the MPFA’s rules.

Getting the order wrong is not “paperwork running late”

There is only one correct order: check the documents → decide whether an application is needed → start work once it is approved.

The common mistake is the reverse — start work, sort the visa out later. That is not an administrative delay; it already constitutes employing a person not lawfully employable, and the penalties run from day one.

Hiring involves a lot at once — documents, insurance, contributions, filings. Want someone to put them in order and work through them? Talk to us.

This is general information and does not constitute legal or immigration advice. Eligibility, application requirements, processing times and penalties for each immigration scheme are as most recently published by the Immigration Department; for an individual case, consult a professional.