Hong Kong New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (New CIES)

The New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (New CIES) gives residence in Hong Kong to people who invest at least HK$30,000,000 there. The scheme opened on March 1, 2024 and is active.

Two government bodies run it. The New CIES Office at Invest Hong Kong checks the applicant's net assets and the investment, and the Immigration Department decides on entry and later extensions.

• Net assets: at least HK$30,000,000, held throughout the six months before applying.
• Investment: at least HK$30,000,000, of which HK$3,000,000 goes into the CIES Investment Portfolio.
• First stay: 24 months, then extensions of up to three years at a time.
• Work: entrants may take a job, be self-employed or run a business.
• Permanent residence: possible after seven years of continuous ordinary residence.

Hong Kong has no digital nomad visa. For an overview of the other routes, see the Hong Kong guide.

Applicants must be aged 18 or over when they apply for the Net Asset Assessment and must fall into one of the scheme's groups:

• foreign nationals;
• Chinese nationals with permanent resident status in a foreign country;
• Macao residents;
• Chinese residents of Taiwan.

The scheme is not open to nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba or North Korea, or to ordinary residents of the Mainland.

• Net assets: net assets or net equity worth at least HK$30,000,000, held throughout the six months before the Net Asset Assessment application. The holding period was two years until March 1, 2025. Jointly owned assets count for the applicant's beneficial share.
• Investment: at least HK$30,000,000 in permissible investment assets. Only assets acquired on or after March 1, 2024 count.
• Self-support: applicants must show they can support themselves and their dependents without relying on returns from the investment or on income from a local job.
• Dependents: a spouse or recognized civil partner and unmarried dependent children under 18 can apply with the entrant. Their stay is linked to the entrant's.

The investment has two parts:

• CIES Investment Portfolio: HK$3,000,000, placed in a portfolio set up and overseen by the Hong Kong Investment Corporation.
• Permissible investment assets: the rest of the HK$30,000,000 in financial assets on the scheme's permissible list, such as equities, debt securities and eligible collective investment schemes, and Hong Kong real estate.

Real estate limits: real estate counts toward the threshold up to HK$15,000,000 in total, of which residential property counts up to HK$10,000,000. Residential property must be a single property at or above the scheme's minimum transaction price. Property bought before the current cap took effect stays under the earlier, lower cap.

Holding structures: since March 1, 2026, the investment may also be held through a Hong Kong family-owned investment holding vehicle managed by an eligible single family office.

The Net Asset Assessment file needs a report from a certified public accountant. The Immigration Department's New CIES page lists the documents for the entry application, including travel documents and proof of relationship for dependents.

The Immigration Department charges each applicant twice, once on applying and once when the visa is issued:

• Application fee: HK$600 per person, for the principal applicant and each dependent, non-refundable. This fee level applies since Feb. 26, 2025.
• Visa fee: HK$1,300 per person for a grant of more than 180 days. A lower fee applies to grants of 180 days or less.

Both fees are charged again for each extension of stay.

The main costs sit outside government fees: the investment itself, the certified public accountant's report on the net assets and certified translations of any documents not in Chinese or English. Their prices vary by provider.

Two stages online: the New CIES Office at Invest Hong Kong assesses net assets and the investment (with a certified public accountant's report), then the Immigration Department decides the entry application and issues an e-Visa.

1. Apply online to the New CIES Office for the Net Asset Assessment and get the certifying proof that the net asset test is met.
2. Submit the entry application to the Immigration Department within the validity period of that proof.
3. After approval in principle, enter Hong Kong as a visitor and make the investment.
4. Apply to the New CIES Office for confirmation that the investment requirements are met. The Immigration Department then grants formal approval and issues the e-Visa.

Neither office publishes a standard processing time.

On formal approval, the entrant and any dependents normally get a first stay of 24 months.

Renewal: Extensions of not more than three years each, granted when the New CIES Office confirms the Portfolio Maintenance Requirements are met and the entrant still meets the scheme criteria.

Extension applications go in within the three months before the current stay expires, and at least six weeks before it ends.

Permanent residence after at least seven years of continuous ordinary residence under the Immigration Ordinance; entrants who cannot meet that but have kept the investment for seven years may apply for unconditional stay.

The New CIES carries no special tax regime. Hong Kong taxes income by source, not by residence: salaries tax applies to employment income arising in or derived from Hong Kong, and profits tax applies to profits from a business carried on in Hong Kong. Income sourced outside Hong Kong generally falls outside both, whatever visa the person holds.

The day count that appears in tax discussions is narrower than it looks. The Inland Revenue Department issues certificates of resident status under double tax agreements to individuals who ordinarily reside in Hong Kong or who stay more than 180 days in a year of assessment or more than 300 days over two consecutive years. That test decides treaty residence; it does not decide whether salaries tax is due.

Investment returns are taxed under the same source rules as anyone else's. Entrants should check how their home country taxes worldwide income and whether it has a tax treaty with Hong Kong.