Change of employment on a Hong Kong visa: ImmD rules

The condition ImmD attached to your stay decides if you can change jobs on a Hong Kong visa. If you are on employment condition, as GEP and ASMTP professionals are until they reach the top-tier stream, you need ImmD’s approval before you start the new job. If your stay is on time limitation only, ImmD has not tied you to one employer. Neither rule is something a consultancy can waive.

Which rule applies to you

If you are not sure which condition you hold, check the terms ImmD set when it granted your stay, then read the ImmD page for your scheme. A firm’s or an employer’s summary is not a substitute.

Employment condition: getting prior approval

ImmD’s GEP page and ASMTP page say professionals on employment condition shall only take the employment the Director of Immigration approved, and should seek prior approval for any change. ImmD may favourably consider the change if you continue to meet the scheme’s eligibility criteria. For GEP, that means a genuine vacancy, a job relevant to your qualifications or experience, and pay broadly in line with the market for professionals.

1. Get a written offer from the new employer, with the job title, duties, pay and contract length.
2. Check the new job still meets your scheme’s criteria. ImmD tests the new job, not your old one.
3. Apply to ImmD for the change of employment. ImmD offers online applications for change of employment through its online service system.
4. Provide anything ImmD asks for from you or the new employer. Its guidebook ID(E)991 describes the employment documents ImmD works from.
5. Start the new job only after ImmD approves.

Under TechTAS, ImmD’s scheme page also requires prior approval for any change of employment, so the same order applies: approval first, new job second.

Technical Professionals Stream

Non-degree professionals admitted under the Technical Professionals Stream of GEP or ASMTP face an extra limit. If you change employment within your first stay of 24 or 36 months, ImmD will, on approval, only let you work in Hong Kong for the rest of that original period, or for the length of the new contract if shorter. Changing job does not restart the clock.

Top-tier professionals: notify, do not apply

If you have reached the top-tier stream under GEP or ASMTP, your stay is on time limitation only, without other conditions of stay. ImmD says you only need to notify it of the change of employment through its online service system, within your current permitted limit of stay. Notification is still an ImmD process, so do it on time. The top-tier stream is for people who have worked here as professionals under GEP or ASMTP for at least two years and had assessable income for salaries tax of at least HK$2 million in the previous year of assessment.

Time limitation only: TTPS, QMAS and IANG

The first stay under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, the 36-month first stay under QMAS and the 24-month first stay under IANG are all granted on time limitation only, without other conditions of stay. ImmD has not tied these stays to one employer. The job still matters later: a TTPS extension needs a job with a stable income or a business, and an IANG extension needs a degree-level job at market pay.

Common mistakes and getting help

• Starting the new job on the first day of the contract while the approval is still pending.
• Treating a move to a related company as no change at all. If the employer or the job changes, check with ImmD first.
• Forgetting to notify ImmD after a move in the top-tier stream.
• Expecting a new job to bring a fresh stay under the Technical Professionals Stream.

If your limit of stay is close, read our extension of stay guide too. Hong Kong has no immigration consultant licence, and only ImmD can approve a change or accept a notification. You can compare firms that name employment visas in our directory.