Hong Kong SAR · Skilled worker

Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS)

Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS) (QMAS) is issued by Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. VisaAI tracks 19 official requirements for it, each traced to the government page that states it.

Last verified against the official source on .

VisaAI is not a government body and does not issue visas. It cannot decide, predict or guarantee the outcome of an application, and this page is not legal or immigration advice.

Requirements change. Confirm every item on Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s own page before you apply.

Conditions you must meet

  • You do not need a job offer before applyingThe premise of the scheme, and the opposite of Hong Kong's General Employment Policy, which requires a confirmed offer, a genuine vacancy and a role the local workforce cannot readily fill.
  • Four stages, and the points test is only the secondPrerequisites, then a points test, then a periodic selection exercise, then issuance. Each stage gates the next.
  • Fail any prerequisite and the application is refused immediately, without further assessmentThe Department says the application 'will not be further processed'. The points test is never reached.
  • You must be 18 or over when you apply
  • You must be able to support and house yourself and any dependants without public assistanceFor the whole of your stay, not just on arrival. No figure is published — this is a standard, not a threshold.
  • No criminal record and no adverse immigration record, anywhere'in hong kong or elsewhere' — an immigration record in a third country counts.
  • A good educational background, normally a first degree from a recognised institutionThe same door left open as on the GEP: technical qualifications, proven professional abilities or documented experience may be considered in special circumstances.
  • Choose one of two points tests: 12 criteria, or 2The General Points Test has a passing threshold and the Department advises self-assessing against it before applying. The Achievement-based Points Test has two criteria and no threshold. The criteria and weights are in the Department's own points tables and are not reproduced here.
  • Meeting the threshold does not get you in — it gets you into the selection exerciseThe single most important thing to understand about this scheme. Selection exercises run periodically, applications meeting more criteria are considered more favourably, and a high-level panel chaired by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare may advise on manpower needs across sectors.
  • Selection is on merit, weighed against Hong Kong's wider needsThe panel takes a holistic view of manpower requirements across sectors and industries, the socio-economic needs of Hong Kong, and the applicant's background — factors outside the applicant's control and not in any points table.
  • The Director may decide a criterion was not met, and may refuse without giving any reasonBroader than the GEP's disclaimer, which reserves discretion to refuse. This one also reserves discretion over whether a criterion was satisfied at all, and adds that the scheme may change without notice.
  • Nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba and North Korea cannot use the schemeThe same three nationalities excluded from the General Employment Policy.
  • You may bring a spouse or recognised partner and unmarried children under 18 — if you can support them yourselfHong Kong recognises same-sex and opposite-sex civil partnerships and civil unions recognised where they were entered into. The financial condition is attached in the same sentence.
  • Cohabiting partners, de facto spouses and fiancé(e)s do not countThe Department defines a qualifying partnership by four structural features — governed by the legislation of the place it was entered into, registered with a competent authority, evidenced in writing, and a mutual permanent commitment akin to spouses — and then names what falls outside.
  • A knowingly false statement is a criminal offence, and it voids the visas already grantedNot only your own: the Department states that any visa, entry permit or extension granted to you AND your dependants may become null and void.
  • Successful applicants on the General Points Test normally get 36 months, with no employment condition'on time limitation only without other conditions of stay' — you are not tied to an employer, which is the practical difference from the General Employment Policy.

Documents you must provide

  • Originals may be demanded even after copies have been suppliedThe checklist itself is in Part III of the Department's guidance notes rather than on this page.

Steps in the process

  • Name every accompanying family member in the online applicationThe Department advises filling in the accompanying-dependant part during the application rather than adding people later.

Government fees

  • The application fee is non-refundable whatever the outcomeQMAS is a 'specified scheme' under Schedule 2 of the Immigration Regulations (Cap.115A): the principal applicant and each dependant pay a non-refundable application fee and, on approval, a visa issuance fee. The Department links its fee table rather than publishing amounts here, so no figure is stored.

Official sources

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Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS) — Hong Kong SAR | VisaAI