Hong Kong immigration consultant licence: there is none

Hong Kong does not license immigration consultants. There is no Immigration Department register of visa agents and no licence number to check. Any firm can describe itself as an immigration consultancy. What it cannot do is decide your application: only ImmD does that, and the Government says you do not need an intermediary to apply at all.

What a visa firm can and cannot do

A firm on our list, or anywhere else, can:

• explain the schemes and help you pick one;
• collect and organise your documents;
• fill in forms and, with your authority, submit them; and
• handle ImmD’s requests for more documents.

It cannot:

• approve, speed up or guarantee an application;
• change the eligibility criteria or ImmD’s fees; or
• take responsibility away from you for what the application says.

A firm’s name on the cover letter does not change whose application it is. The false-information offence below applies to any person or company, so it can reach both you and the firm that prepared the file.

What the Government says about intermediaries

In a Legislative Council reply in December 2024, the Government said it constantly reminds people interested in coming to Hong Kong for work or to set up a business that they do not need to apply through intermediaries, and that they should not blindly believe claims such as “guaranteed success in application”. It also said ImmD publicises, through channels including the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, press releases, social media and talks, that giving false information to ImmD is a serious criminal offence.

It is an offence for any person or company to furnish false information or make a false representation to ImmD in a visa or entry permit application. Offenders are liable on conviction to a maximum fine of HK$150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years. ImmD also publicises enforcement, such as its July 2025 action against a cross-boundary syndicate using false instruments.

What you can do without a firm

ImmD publishes what you need to apply on your own. Each main scheme has a page with the criteria and a guidebook with the document list: for example the Guidebook for Entry for Employment as Professionals, ID(E)991, used for the General Employment Policy and the Mainland talents scheme, and the QMAS Guidance Notes, ID(E)982. For QMAS, ImmD also offers a self-assessment tool. ImmD’s fees are the same whoever submits the file. A firm saves you time on paperwork; it does not buy you a different test.

How to check a visa firm, step by step

1. Read the ImmD page for your scheme yourself first, so you know the real criteria and fees.
2. If the adviser says they are a Hong Kong solicitor, check the Law Society’s Law List. Our guide on how to check the Law List shows how.
3. If the firm also forms companies or acts as company secretary, check its TCSP licence. A TCSP licence covers company services, not immigration.
4. Ask for the scope of work and the firm’s fee in writing, kept separate from ImmD’s fees.
5. Read every form and supporting document before it is filed, and keep your own copies.

Warning signs

• A promise of approval or a “guaranteed success” claim.
• Claims of special contacts at ImmD.
• Suggestions to round up your income, invent a job offer or use documents you have not seen.
• Asking you to sign blank or unread forms.
• Quoting ImmD’s fees wrongly. On specified schemes the ImmD application fee is HK$600 and is not refunded in any circumstance; see our fees guide.

Who decides

ImmD’s pages are clear that the decision is the Director of Immigration’s. On the QMAS page, for example, ImmD says the Director has absolute discretion to approve or refuse any application without giving any reason. Our guide on how ImmD decides applications covers the rest. If you still want help, you can compare visa firms in our directory. We write each listing from the firm’s own website, and a listing is not an endorsement.