Hong Kong SAR · Dependant
Residence as dependant
Residence as dependant is issued by Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. VisaAI tracks 16 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.
Each requirement below is written in plain English by VisaAI. The indented text beneath it is quoted from Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s own page, so you can check what we say against what they say. Where a quotation shows “ ... ”, text has been left out.
Conditions you must meet
- Meeting every criterion does not entitle you to the visaThe same sentence the Department puts on its other routes, and it qualifies everything below.
All applications are processed and determined by the ImmD. Approval of applications is entirely discretionary and is subject to changes in government policies. The Director of Immigration reserves absolute discretion to refuse any application even if the application meets all eligibility criteria.
- If your sponsor is here on a visa, only a spouse or partner and children under 18 may joinCovers sponsors admitted for employment (GEP, ASMTP, IANG, VPAS, TechTAS), for investment or training, for full-time local degree study, and entrants under CIES, QMAS, the second-generation scheme, the Top Talent Pass Scheme and the new CIES. No parents, at any age.
the following dependants may apply to join him/her for residence in the HKSAR: ... (i) his/her spouse; or ... his/her unmarried dependent children under the age of 18;
- If your sponsor is a permanent resident, parents aged 60 or above may join tooThe one route into Hong Kong for a parent. It requires the sponsor to be a permanent resident, or to have the right to land or unconditional stay — a work-visa holder cannot do it however long they have been here.
For a sponsor who is a Hong Kong permanent resident or a resident who is not subject to a limit of stay (i.e. a resident with the right to land or on unconditional stay), the following dependants may apply to join him/her for residence in the HKSAR:
- That parent must be 60 or aboveStated as its own line in the permanent-resident list, and absent from the visa-holder list entirely.
his/her parents aged 60 or above.
- A recognised same-sex or opposite-sex civil partnership or union counts as a spouseRecognised where it was entered into, and legally and officially recognised by that place's authorities.
(ii) the other party to a same-sex civil partnership, same-sex civil union, “same-sex marriage”, opposite-sex civil partnership or opposite-sex civil union entered into by him/her in accordance with the local law in force of the place of celebration and with such status being legally and officially recognised by the local authorities of the place of celebration
- Cohabiting partners, de facto spouses and fiancé(e)s do not countThe Department defines a qualifying partnership by four structural features and then names what falls outside it.
Such relationships do not include de facto spouse, partners in cohabitation, fiancé/fiancée, etc.
- Reasonable proof of a genuine relationship with your sponsor
there is reasonable proof of a genuine relationship between the applicant and the sponsor;
- No known record to your detriment
there is no known record to the detriment of the applicant; and
- Your sponsor must be able to support and house you well above subsistence levelA standard, not a figure — the Department publishes no threshold.
the sponsor is able to support the dependant's living at a standard well above the subsistence level and provide him/her with suitable accommodation in the HKSAR.
- The general immigration requirements apply on topA valid travel document with adequate returnability, a clear criminal record, no security concern, and no likelihood of becoming a burden on Hong Kong.
an applicant should meet normal immigration requirements (such as holding a valid travel document with adequate returnability to his/her country of residence or citizenship; be of clear criminal record and raise no security or criminal concerns to the HKSAR; have no likelihood of becoming a burden on the HKSAR, etc.) as well as the relevant specific eligibility criteria detailed above
- Most dependants may work without askingDependants of permanent residents, of people not subject to a limit of stay, of those admitted for employment, and of scheme entrants are all free to take up employment.
Dependants of the following persons are not prohibited from taking up employment in the HKSAR:
- The exception: a student's dependant must get permission firstThe one dependant in Hong Kong who must ask. It qualifies the general rule above, and neither of Hong Kong's employment routes mentions it because neither is affected by it.
However, dependants of persons who have been admitted into the HKSAR to study are prohibited from taking up employment in the HKSAR unless they have obtained prior permission from the Director of Immigration.
- Every dependant may study without permissionNo exception here — the study freedom is unconditional across all sponsor categories.
All dependants do not require prior permission from the Director of Immigration to study in the HKSAR.
Steps in the process
- Two different extension windows: three months, or four weeksA dependant under a 'specified scheme' gets three months before expiry; every other dependant gets four. Filing outside your own window is not an early application, it is a rejected one.
A dependant under a “Specified Scheme” may apply for extension of stay within three months before his/her limit of stay expires; whereas other dependants may do so within four weeks before their limit of stay expires.
- Six weeks, and the clock does not start until everything has arrivedThe Department states plainly that it will not begin processing until all documents and any fee have been received.
It normally takes six weeks to process a visa/entry permit application for residence as dependant upon receipt of all the required documents and the relevant application fee Note (if applicable).
Government fees
- Under a specified scheme, a non-refundable application fee and an issuance fee on approvalA two-tiered fee structure the Department publishes separately. Dependants of other sponsors may pay nothing, which is why the page writes the fee as conditional throughout.
An applicant who makes an application as a dependant under a “Specified Scheme” is required to pay an application fee and, upon approval of the concerned application, the relevant visa/ entry permit issuance fee according to the two-tiered fee structure. The application fee paid is non-refundable in any circumstance irrespective of the application result.
Official sources
- Residence as dependant — Requirements, Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region