Globevisa Exclusively Reveals 2024 Hong Kong Immigration Department Visa Statistics

During the Legislative Council meeting held on November 27, 2024, in Hong Kong, Dennis Lam posed the following questions to the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Chris Sun:

Dennis Lam’s Questions:

This year’s Policy Address announced reforms to the mechanisms for the Top Talent Pass Scheme, the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS), and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals. In this regard, could the Government inform this Council of the following:

• The number of talents approved to come to Hong Kong through the above schemes so far this year, with a breakdown of figures by their countries or regions of origin;
• The average processing time required to approve applications for talents under the schemes mentioned in (1);
• The number of dependents who have come to Hong Kong accompanying the approved talents mentioned in (1).

Response by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Chris Sun:

In the first ten months of 2024, a total of nearly 180,000 applications were received under various talent admission schemes, of which nearly 120,000 were approved. Among those approved, approximately 75,000 talents have already arrived in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, about 75,000 dependents accompanied the approved talents to Hong Kong.

Under the respective schemes, the number of approved cases for the Top Talent Pass Scheme, the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals was 34,360, 9,423, and 21,296, respectively. The breakdown of figures by the regions of origin of applicants and, for Category B and C applicants under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, by the regions of their graduating universities, is shown in the table below.

Source

The number of dependents who arrived in Hong Kong through the above three talent admission schemes is shown in the table below.

Source

For visa/entry permit applications submitted under the Top Talent Pass Scheme and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, processing is generally completed within four weeks after the required information and supporting documents are provided by the applicant. For applications submitted before November 1 this year under the “General Points Test” of the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, the processing time is longer than for other talent admission schemes due to procedures such as qualification verification and consultation with the Advisory Committee on Admission of Quality Migrants and Professionals. The time required also varies depending on the complexity of individual cases, with processing generally taking about six to nine months.

Dennis Lam’s Questions:

• Given that the Government optimized the “General Points Test” under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme starting from November 1, will the processing progress of applications submitted before this date be affected?
• In light of reports from applicants under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme who have been waiting for over six months, and the reported encouragement by the Government for applicants to cancel their original applications and submit new ones before November 1, will the speed of processing such new applications be expedited?

Response by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Chris Sun:

The Immigration Department will continue to process applications submitted before November 1 this year under the “General Points Test” of the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme in accordance with the original criteria and procedures. From November 1, the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme adopted an optimized “General Points Test” with more objective and transparent scoring criteria, simplifying the selection process and enhancing processing efficiency. If applicants choose to cancel their original applications and submit new ones under the optimized mechanism, the processing time will be shortened.

The above outlines the 2024 data for various talent admission schemes. Now, how about the data for another popular scheme this year, the Investment Migration Scheme? Let’s take a look at the figures announced by InvestHK in public forums.

The above photo illustrates the achievements shared by Alpha Lau, Director-General of InvestHK, during her presentation on the results achieved seven months after the Hong Kong Capital Investment Entrant Scheme opened for applications.

At the event, Alpha Lau publicly stated that since the scheme’s launch on March 1, 2024, InvestHK has received over 700 asset assessment applications. Of these, more than 160 applicants have completed their investments and obtained formal approval from the Immigration Department. These 160 applicants have already activated their status in Hong Kong and received their official Hong Kong identity cards.

Globevisa, on its part, has submitted 262 asset assessment applications, with 198 receiving asset clearance letters so far, while the rest are still under review. Globevisa has secured over 100 provisional approvals from the Immigration Department, with more than 80 applicants having opened accounts, made investments, and received formal approval letters.

Alpha Lau expressed strong recognition and affirmation of Globevisa’s significant application volume and acknowledged its efforts. She encouraged Globevisa to leverage its industry expertise to support InvestHK in promoting the scheme further.

We sincerely thank the Director-General of InvestHK for her positive recognition and praise! Globevisa will continue to work diligently and live up to expectations!