Foreign workers to pay higher application and visa fees to do jobs in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has introduced new application fees and raised visa fees for talent and capital investment admission schemes for foreign workers. Effective February 26, primary candidates under certain admission schemes and their dependents must pay an application fee and a visa issuance fee based on a two-tiered price structure. 

The 2025-26 Budget announced that a new application fee will be introduced under various admission schemes to attract talent and capital investors. The visa/entry permit issuance fees for approved applications will be raised based on the length of the limit of stay to peg to their costs and reflect the “user pays” principle.

The Immigration (Amendment) Regulation 2025 with new application and visa fees was published in the Gazette and went into force on February 26 to impose these fees.

Principal applicants under specified admission schemes and their dependants will be required to pay an application fee of $600 for each application under a specified admission scheme for entry, change of conditions of stay or extension of limit of stay. 

Also, the visa/entry permit fee for an approved application will be increased, based on the length of the limit of stay, from the original flat rate of $230 to $600 (with a limit of stay of 180 days or below) or $1,300 (with a limit of stay of 181 days or more).

The new fee structure will apply to: 

Top Talent Pass Scheme; 
General Employment Policy; 
Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals; 
Quality Migrant Admission Scheme; 
Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates; 
Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents; 
New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme; 
Capital Investment Entrant Scheme; 
Technology Talent Admission Scheme; and 
Vocational Professionals Admission Scheme.

The existing fees applicable to other types of visas/entry permits other than those applied under the specified schemes remain unchanged. 

The number of applications for different talent admission schemes has grown from around 58,000 in 2022 to more than 2,21,000 in 2023 and around 2,08,000 in 2024, representing an increase of more than 250 percent compared with 2022.

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/business/investing-abroad-hong-kong-hikes-application-and-visa-fees-for-foreign-workers-3780380/