Hong Kong Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES)

Hong Kong’s Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, usually called the New CIES, is a residence-by-investment route for high-net-worth people. It’s not a tourist stamp and it’s not a shortcut for casual long stays. If you’re approved, you’re admitted as a resident because you’ve put qualifying capital into Hong Kong, not because you’ve got a job offer or local schooling behind you.

The scheme reopened for new applications on March 1, 2024. It’s run through two government arms, the Immigration Department and the New CIES Office under Invest Hong Kong, which is a little clunky in practice but clear enough in structure: Invest Hong Kong checks the assets and investment, then Immigration handles the visa, extensions and later applications for unconditional stay.

To qualify, applicants have to be natural persons aged 18 or older and fall within the eligible nationality or residence categories set out by the government. Ordinary mainland Chinese residents without foreign permanent status aren’t eligible. The scheme is aimed at asset owners with real money to deploy, not people hoping to park a small sum and wait for residency to happen.

• Net assets: At least HK$30 million in beneficially owned assets, with the required holding period now set at six months before applying for assessment.
• Investment: HK$30 million in permissible investment assets, including approved financial assets and certain real estate, with limits on how much property can count.
• Mandatory allocation: HK$3 million must go into the New CIES Investment Portfolio.

The structure is strict because the government wants actual capital inflow, not just paper wealth. There’s also room for assets held through an eligible private company in some cases, including certain family-office-linked structures, but those setups have their own conditions and aren’t a casual workaround.

Compared with a standard visitor visa, this is a different beast entirely. A tourist or visitor stay lets you visit, attend meetings and leave. New CIES is designed to keep you in Hong Kong longer, with an initial stay that’s usually 24 months and later extensions if you keep meeting the scheme rules.

Once you’ve been in Hong Kong for not less than seven years of continuous ordinary residence, you can apply for permanent residence, known as unconditional stay. Eligible dependants can usually come too, under Hong Kong’s general dependant visa policy. The old CIES, launched in 2003, is a separate story and mostly matters now only for people already admitted under that earlier scheme.

Who qualifies

Hong Kong’s New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme is open, but it’s not for casual investors. The core test is money and lots of it. You need to be an adult applicant, hold qualifying status under the scheme rules and show that you’re the absolute beneficial owner of at least HK$30 million in net assets, held throughout the six months before you apply.

The scheme doesn’t apply to nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Stateless people can qualify if they already have permanent resident status in another country with re-entry facilities. Some Chinese nationals can also apply, including PRC passport holders with overseas permanent residence, Macao residents and Taiwan residents, but they need to meet the scheme’s specific rules and prove the relevant status.

Family members can come too, but only in the usual dependant categories. That includes:

• Spouse or partner: a spouse or the other party to a recognised same-sex or opposite-sex civil partnership, civil union or marriage entered into under the law of the place where it was celebrated
• Children: unmarried dependent children under 18

Dependants’ stays are normally tied to the main applicant’s status and they’re not barred from working or studying in Hong Kong.

On the money side, the scheme asks for a total minimum investment of HK$30 million in permissible assets. Of that, at least HK$27 million goes into qualifying financial assets or non-residential real estate and HK$3 million must be placed in the CIES Investment Portfolio. Real estate has a ceiling too, only HK$10 million of non-residential property can count toward the HK$27 million portion.

Immigration also wants clean paperwork. Applicants must provide a Certificate of No Criminal Conviction from each country or territory where they’ve habitually lived in the past 12 months and that certificate has to be issued within six months before the application date. InvestHK then checks the net assets and the investment, while the Immigration Department handles the visa and later decisions on extension or unconditional stay.

Source 1 | Source 2

Hong Kong’s old Capital Investment Entrant Scheme is suspended. If you’re applying now, you’re dealing with the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme and the paperwork is stricter than the old “golden visa” shorthand makes it sound.

The headline numbers are clear. You need net assets of at least HK$30 million, held for the six months before your net asset assessment application, then you must invest a minimum of HK$30 million in permitted assets. There’s no separate salary test in the official rules, just the asset test and the investment requirement.

What the main applicant has to submit

• Recent photograph: A current photo of the applicant.
• Travel document: A valid passport or equivalent showing your personal details, issue and expiry dates and any re-entry visa details.
• InvestHK certificates: The certifying proof for fulfilment of the net asset requirement and, later, the certifying proof for fulfilment of the investment requirements.
• Local identity documents: Hong Kong identity card if you already have one or Macao identity card or Taiwan documents if those apply.
• Police certificate: A Certificate of No Criminal Conviction from the country or territory where you’ve lived for the past 12 months. It can’t be older than 6 months when you apply.
• Proof of overseas permanent residence: Needed for PRC passport holders who also hold permanent resident status elsewhere.

InvestHK’s net asset assessment is its own stage and it wants a certified public accountant in Hong Kong to help prepare the file. The official guidance also says the fulfilment document can’t sit around for long, because no more than 14 calendar days can pass between that document’s issue date and the day you file the assessment application.

If you’re bringing dependants

Spouses and unmarried children under 18 need their own set of documents. That usually means a photo, travel document and relationship evidence such as a marriage certificate or birth certificate. Adult dependants also need the same no-criminal-conviction certificate rule and the 6-month limit applies there too.

What the government doesn’t pin down

The official portal doesn’t publish a fixed processing time and it doesn’t give a neat one-page list of every acceptable proof of wealth. Those supporting documents are set out in the scheme’s technical forms and guides, so you’ll want to prepare for bank statements, asset statements and valuation papers being asked for, but the exact mix depends on your file.

Source 1 | Source 2

The money side of the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme isn't subtle. You need HK$30 million in net assets and the official fees start before you even get to the investment itself.

The core government charges are straightforward, though they add up fast if you’re bringing family members. The applicant also has to pay for a Hong Kong practising CPA and the scheme doesn’t publish a standard price for that work.

• Application fee: HK$600 for the principal applicant and each dependent. This is non-refundable.
• Visa or entry permit issuance fee: HK$600 if the permit is for 180 days or less or HK$1,300 if it’s for 181 days or more.
• Extension of stay: the same fee structure applies to extension applications under the scheme.

In rough U.S. terms, HK$600 is about US$77 and HK$1,300 is about US$167. Those are only conversions for comparison, since the government charges everything in Hong Kong dollars.

The hidden costs are the ones that usually sting. You’ll need a CPA to prepare the Net Asset Assessment and related fulfillment documents and that’s paid at your own expense. If any supporting paper isn’t in Chinese or English, it has to be translated and certified by an approved translator. The official portal doesn’t give fixed prices for either service.

• CPA verification: required at the applicant’s own cost.
• Translation and certification: needed for any non-Chinese, non-English document.
• Dependent paperwork: each dependent pays the same HK$600 application fee, plus the applicable issuance fee.

There’s also a big distinction between the fees and the money you must actually commit. The scheme requires HK$27 million in permissible investment assets plus HK$3 million in the CIES Investment Portfolio and fees, commissions, stamp duties, taxes and other transaction costs don’t count toward that commitment.

Timing is less tidy than the fee schedule. The official materials don’t publish a guaranteed decision time for the full case, though the process runs through net asset assessment first, then entry application, then the investment requirements assessment. After approval, the initial entry permit is normally issued for no more than 180 days, then stay is usually granted for 24 months and later extensions are normally for up to 3 years at a time.

How to apply

The New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme or New CIES, is a two-stage process. First, you prove you have at least HKD 30 million in net assets. Then you file for entry, make the investment and only after that can you move on to residence extensions and, eventually, permanent residency after 7 years of ordinary residence.

Start with InvestHK’s net asset assessment, not Immigration. You’ll need the official net asset statement, supporting financial records and, for some applicants, proof of permanent resident status outside Hong Kong. The scheme doesn’t apply to nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba and the DPRK, so check eligibility before you spend time assembling paperwork.

• Step 1: Complete the online net asset assessment with the New CIES Office and wait for the certifying proof confirming you meet the wealth test.
• Step 2: Use that certifying proof to submit your online entry application to the Immigration Department within the proof’s validity period.
• Step 3: If Immigration grants approval in principle, you’ll get a visitor entry permit for up to 180 days to complete the investment in Hong Kong.
• Step 4: After you finish the investment, apply for the certifying proof for fulfillment of investment requirements, then move on to the residence stage.

The paperwork is picky and the portal doesn’t leave much room for guessing. For the principal applicant, Immigration asks for a recent photo, a valid travel document, the net asset proof, any Hong Kong ID card if you already have one and a police certificate from the country or territory where you’ve lived for the past 12 months.

Dependants need their own photos, travel documents and proof of relationship, such as a marriage or birth certificate. Non-Chinese and non-English documents need certified translations. The application fee is paid online and it’s non-refundable, no matter how the case turns out. The official portal doesn’t give a fixed processing time, so don’t build your move around a guess.

• Investment split: At least HKD 27 million in permissible investment assets.
• CIES Investment Portfolio: HKD 3 million in the portfolio managed by Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited.
• Total required investment: HKD 30 million.

That split matters, because the scheme isn’t just about parking money in Hong Kong. It’s a formal path and Immigration wants the documents to match the money trail exactly.

The New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme or New CIES, isn’t built for short stays. If you’re approved, the usual first grant is up to 24 months for you and any dependants, on a time-limit only basis. In practice, that makes the first round fairly generous, but it doesn’t give you a free pass to ignore the renewal clock.

During the approval-in-principle stage, you may first be given up to 180 days on visitor status so you can finish the committed investment. Only after that does the normal 24-month residence permission kick in. The scheme is meant to be renewed, but only if you keep meeting the investment and immigration rules.

After the first stay, extensions are normally granted in 3-year blocks. The Immigration Department says further extensions of stay for not more than three years each can be granted on the same basis, so there’s no separate fixed cap on how many times you can renew if you keep qualifying. The catch is simple: you have to maintain the portfolio and keep satisfying the usual immigration requirements.

The timing is strict. You must apply within 3 months before your limit of stay expires and, in all cases, at least 6 weeks before expiry. The renewal application can be filed online through GovHK, but don’t assume that means you can sit tight until the last minute. Unless the Director of Immigration approves an exception, you’re expected to leave Hong Kong before your current permission ends, even if the extension is still being processed. Overstaying is a serious criminal offence.

For renewal, the paperwork is tied to the investment. The principal applicant needs, among other things:

• Certifying Proof: Issued by InvestHK to confirm portfolio maintenance requirements have been met.
• Travel document: Valid for at least 3.5 years.
• Hong Kong identity card: Required for the principal applicant.
• Dependants’ documents: Valid travel documents and Hong Kong identity cards if they’re 11 or older.

There’s also a long game here. After 7 years of continuous ordinary residence, you can apply for Hong Kong permanent residence under the usual rule. If you don’t meet the residence requirement but keep the investment for at least 7 years, you may be able to apply for unconditional stay instead. That’s a different status from permanent residence, but it does let you stay without being tied to the scheme’s investment conditions.

Hong Kong’s Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, including the New CIES launched in 2024, doesn’t come with a special tax break. If you hold a CIES visa, you’re still taxed under Hong Kong’s ordinary system, which is territorial, not residence-based. There’s no reduced rate, no separate filing track and no exemption just because your entry route is investment-based.

That matters because Hong Kong doesn’t tax worldwide income the way many countries do. In practice, the Inland Revenue Department looks at source, so Hong Kong-sourced employment income and business profits can be taxable, while income sourced outside Hong Kong generally isn’t. The visa you hold doesn’t change that analysis.

For individuals, the main taxes are salaries tax, profits tax and property tax. If you’re working here, salaries tax is usually the one to watch. Hong Kong generally taxes income arising in or derived from Hong Kong, though employment that's wholly outside Hong Kong can fall outside the net and there’s also a 60-day rule for short visits that don’t cross the threshold.

• Employment income: Hong Kong-sourced pay can be taxed, even if you’re not a permanent resident.
• Investment income: There’s no separate Hong Kong tax on private capital gains, dividends or interest just because you’re a CIES holder.
• Business activity: If your investing tips into a trade or business in Hong Kong, profits tax rules can apply.

CIES can matter for treaty paperwork, though. For double-tax agreement purposes, the Inland Revenue Department may treat someone as a Hong Kong resident if they ordinarily reside here, stay more than 180 days in a year of assessment or stay more than 300 days over 2 consecutive years, one of which is the relevant year. That test is for treaty claims and resident-status certificates, not for creating a new domestic tax regime.

The blunt version is this, CIES gets you into Hong Kong, not into a softer tax system. If your wealth is parked in permissible assets, the tax treatment still depends on what the income is, where it comes from and whether you’re carrying on business here. The official scheme pages don’t promise anything better than that.