General Employment Policy (GEP): Hong Kong work visa

The General Employment Policy (GEP) is the Immigration Department’s main work visa for professionals coming to a job in Hong Kong. You need a genuine vacancy and a confirmed offer, and your employer completes part of the application. The one thing to plan for is the condition on your stay: until you reach the top-tier stream, you may only do the job ImmD approved.

Who qualifies for GEP

ImmD’s GEP page says an application may be favourably considered if:

• there is no security objection and no known record of serious crime against you;
• you have a good education background, normally a first degree in the relevant field;
• there is a genuine job vacancy;
• you have a confirmed offer relevant to your academic qualifications or work experience, in a job that cannot readily be filled by the local workforce; and
• the remuneration package is broadly in line with the prevailing market level for professionals.

GEP does not apply to Chinese residents of the Mainland, who apply under the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, or to nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. If you studied in Hong Kong, check the IANG graduate route first.

How to apply, step by step

1. Get the written offer and agree who will prepare which part of the file.
2. Read ImmD’s Guidebook for Entry for Employment as Professionals, ID(E)991. It explains the supporting documents ImmD expects.
3. Complete the two forms: ID 990A, filled in by you, and ID 990B, filled in by the employing company.
4. Check the current way to submit. ImmD has adjusted how GEP, ASMTP and IANG applications are submitted, and its form pages carry the latest arrangements.
5. Pay the HK$600 application fee and answer any request from ImmD for more documents.
6. If approved, pay the visa fee and collect your e-Visa.

Fees

GEP is one of the specified schemes in the fee change that took effect on 26 February 2025. Each application for entry, a change of conditions of stay or an extension of stay carries a HK$600 application fee, not refunded whatever the result. If ImmD approves, the visa fee is HK$600 for a limit of stay of 180 days or less, or HK$1,300 for 181 days or more. Each dependant pays separately. Our specified-scheme fees guide has the detail.

How long you can stay

The 36-month first stay applies to applications made on or after 28 December 2022; it was two years before that, according to ImmD’s enhancement measures FAQ. You can ask to be assessed under the top-tier stream when you extend if you have worked here as a professional under GEP for at least two years and had assessable income for salaries tax of at least HK$2 million in the previous year of assessment. The enhancement measures FAQ says top-tier GEP and ASMTP entrants may be granted six years on time limitation only; ImmD’s ASMTP page gives five years for that scheme, so confirm the length with ImmD. Each extension is a new application with its own fee, and ImmD only extends your stay if you still meet the GEP criteria. ImmD asks you to apply as early as possible within three months before your limit of stay expires, and in all circumstances at least six weeks before.

Changing jobs and the Technical Professionals Stream

On employment condition, get ImmD’s approval before you start a new job. Top-tier professionals on time limitation only notify ImmD of the change online. Our change of employment guide sets out the steps.

Non-degree professionals have a separate route: the Technical Professionals Stream under GEP and ASMTP, for young, experienced people in specified skilled trades. It has a quota of 10,000 over its first three years, with no more than 3,000 for any one trade, allocated first come, first served. A technical professional who changes job during the first stay may only work for the rest of that original period, or the new contract if shorter.

Common mistakes and getting help

• Starting the new job before ImmD approves a change of employment.
• Offering pay below the market level for the role. ImmD compares the package with the prevailing market level for professionals.
• Using GEP when you are a Chinese resident of the Mainland. That is ASMTP.
• Expecting the application fee back after a refusal or withdrawal.

Hong Kong has no immigration consultant licence, so no official register lists visa agents. A firm can prepare the forms, but only ImmD decides. If you hold an offer and are weighing schemes, read work visa versus talent visa, then compare firms that name employment visas in our directory.