Join our WhatsApp group for updates. Join WhatsApp updates ↗
Join the WhatsApp property list for Hong Kong property updates. Join the property list ↗
Hong Kong’s Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) allows eligible applicants to seek permission to live and work in the city without first securing a job offer. Graduates may qualify through their bachelor’s degree and work history; high earners may qualify through a separate income route.
The Immigration Department’s current aggregate list contains 200 universities and institutions worldwide. Being on the list is one requirement for the graduate routes, but it does not guarantee that every degree or graduate from that institution qualifies. This guide sets out the requirements, application procedure and complete list as checked on 1 October 2026.
The three application categories
| Category | Main requirement | Normal initial stay |
|---|---|---|
| A | Annual income of at least HK$2.5 million in the year immediately before applying | 36 months |
| B | A qualifying bachelor’s degree from an eligible institution and at least three years of work experience during the five years before applying | 24 months |
| C | A qualifying bachelor’s degree awarded within the past five years, with less than three years of work experience | 24 months |
Category A income must come from taxable employment or business activity; personal investment income does not count. Category B work experience must be gained through full-time employment or self-employment after graduation. For Category C, the Immigration Department counts the five-year condition by year of graduation. Category C has a 10,000-place annual quota, allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Sources: Immigration Department’s TTPS guidance and TTPS FAQ.
Degree requirements and exclusions
For Categories B and C, the applicant needs a bachelor’s degree awarded by an institution on the official list. A master’s or doctorate from a listed institution does not make up for a bachelor’s degree from an unlisted one. Honorary degrees are excluded.
The Immigration Department also excludes bachelor’s degrees obtained through online or distance learning, evening, self-taught or part-time study, as well as qualifications from an eligible institution’s continuing education arm, branch school, extension school or subsidiary school. For a joint programme, all relevant awarding institutions must be eligible. Applicants should wait until they have a degree certificate or other proof of graduation before submitting an application. Source: Immigration Department TTPS FAQ.
Category C generally does not apply to non-local students whose undergraduate qualification was obtained through a full-time, locally accredited programme in Hong Kong. They may instead wish to check the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates.
Complete list of eligible universities and institutions
The following reproduces the names on the Immigration Department’s aggregate list, grouped by country or territory for easier reading. The official list is in no particular order. Applicants should check the linked PDF again at the time of application because the list can change.
Argentina (1): Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA).
Australia (10): University of Melbourne; University of Sydney; The University of Queensland; Monash University; Australian National University; University of New South Wales; The University of Western Australia; University of Adelaide; University of Technology Sydney; Adelaide University.
Austria (1): University of Vienna.
Belgium (2): KU Leuven; Ghent University.
Brazil (1): University of SĂŁo Paulo.
Canada (6): University of Toronto; University of British Columbia; McGill University; McMaster University; University of Montreal; University of Alberta.
Chile (1): Pontificia Universidad CatĂłlica de Chile.
Chinese Mainland (23): Tsinghua University; Peking University; Fudan University; Zhejiang University; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; University of Science and Technology of China; Sun Yat-sen University; Nanjing University; Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Wuhan University; Xi’an Jiaotong University; Harbin Institute of Technology; Central South University; Sichuan University; Beihang University; Southeast University; Beijing Institute of Technology; Tongji University; Renmin University of China; Beijing Normal University; Nankai University; Tianjin University; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Denmark (3): University of Copenhagen; Technical University of Denmark; Aarhus University.
Finland (1): University of Helsinki.
France (5): Sorbonne University; Université Paris Cité (formerly Université de Paris); Université Paris-Saclay; Université PSL; Institut Polytechnique de Paris.
Germany (10): Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MĂĽnchen; Heidelberg University; Technical University of Munich; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Freie Universität Berlin; RWTH Aachen University; University of TĂĽbingen; CharitĂ© – Universitätsmedizin Berlin; University of Bonn; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
Hong Kong SAR (5): University of Hong Kong; Chinese University of Hong Kong; The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; City University of Hong Kong; Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The Category C restriction for certain non-local graduates of Hong Kong programmes still applies.
Ireland (1): Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin.
Israel (3): Weizmann Institute of Science; Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Italy (1): Politecnico di Milano.
Japan (6): The University of Tokyo; Kyoto University; Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech); Osaka University; Tohoku University; Nagoya University.
Malaysia (1): Universiti Malaya (UM).
Mexico (1): Universidad Nacional AutĂłnoma de MĂ©xico (UNAM).
Netherlands (9): University of Amsterdam; Utrecht University; Erasmus University Rotterdam; Wageningen University & Research; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Leiden University; University of Groningen; Delft University of Technology; Hotelschool The Hague.
New Zealand (1): The University of Auckland.
Norway (1): University of Oslo.
Russia (1): Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Saudi Arabia (4): King Abdulaziz University; King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; King Saud University; King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals.
Singapore (2): National University of Singapore; Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
South Korea (6): Seoul National University; Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST); Korea University; Yonsei University; Pohang University of Science And Technology (POSTECH); Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU).
Spain (1): University of Barcelona.
Sweden (5): Karolinska Institute; Lund University; KTH Royal Institute of Technology; Uppsala University; Stockholm University.
Switzerland (11): ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology; École Polytechnique FĂ©dĂ©rale de Lausanne; University of Zurich; University of Geneva; University of Basel; University of Bern; EHL Hospitality Business School; Swiss Hotel Management School; Les Roches Global Hospitality Management Education; Glion Institute of Higher Education; Cesar Ritz Colleges Switzerland.
Taiwan (1): National Taiwan University (NTU).
United Kingdom (21): University of Oxford; University of Cambridge; Imperial College London; University College London; University of Edinburgh; King’s College London; University of Manchester; University of Bristol; University of Southampton; University of Glasgow; University of Birmingham; London School of Economics and Political Science; University of Warwick; Durham University; University of St Andrews; University of Leeds; The University of Sheffield; University of Nottingham; Queen Mary University of London; Royal College of Art; University of the Arts London.
United States (55): Harvard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; California Institute of Technology; Columbia University; Princeton University; University of Washington; Yale University; Johns Hopkins University; University of California, Los Angeles; The University of Chicago; University of California, San Francisco; University of Pennsylvania; University of California, San Diego; University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; Duke University; Cornell University; Northwestern University; New York University; Washington University in St. Louis; University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill; University of Wisconsin-Madison; University of Texas at Austin; University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Pittsburgh; University of Colorado–Boulder; Ohio State University–Columbus; Boston University; University of Maryland, College Park; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of California, Santa Cruz; University of California, Davis; University of Southern California; Rockefeller University; Georgia Institute of Technology; Pennsylvania State University; Emory University; Vanderbilt University; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Carnegie Mellon University; University of Arizona; Michigan State University; Brown University; University of California, Irvine; University of Minnesota–Twin Cities; University of Florida; Rice University; Purdue University – West Lafayette; Dartmouth College; The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas; The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; Parsons School of Design, the New School; Rhode Island School of Design; University of Massachusetts.
The official PDF marks Adelaide University, University of Vienna, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Politecnico di Milano and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals as newly added. It also says Ecole Polytechnique, Université Grenoble Alpes, Universite Sorbonne Paris Cite-USPC and University of Freiburg were removed from the list from 1 January 2026. The list is broader than a single year’s QS ranking: it draws on several rankings and specified specialist categories.
Documents to prepare
For Categories B and C, the Immigration Department’s document table calls for digital copies of a recent photograph, valid travel document, official bachelor’s degree certificate and transcript, and verification proof of the qualification from the awarding institution or an accepted third-party organisation. Category B applicants also need documentary evidence of their work experience. Applicants should provide a Hong Kong identity card if they have one.
Category A applicants need evidence of qualifying income, such as tax assessments and employment or business records. Additional documents may be needed according to an applicant’s nationality and residence status. Documents not in Chinese or English require a certified translation. Immigration officials may request more evidence after submission.
Application procedure
- Identify the right category. Check the income, degree, graduation-date and work-history rules against your circumstances.
- Check the awarding institution. For Categories B and C, confirm that the institution awarding your bachelor’s degree appears on the latest official list. Check the study-mode and campus exclusions too.
- Collect and verify the documents. Obtain your degree certificate, transcript and academic verification proof before applying. Prepare work-experience or income evidence where required.
- Apply online and pay the application fee. TTPS applications must be submitted through the government online service linked from the Immigration Department’s TTPS page. Upload the requested documents and pay the fee.
- Check the result. After the application is acknowledged, its status can be checked through the government’s enquiry service. The result is normally sent by email.
- If approved, pay for and obtain the e-Visa. Follow the payment link in the approval notice, then download or print the e-Visa. Present it with the required travel document when entering Hong Kong.
The Immigration Department says an initial TTPS application normally takes four weeks to process after it has received all required documents and the application fee. Every application is assessed individually; meeting the listed criteria does not guarantee approval. Source: Immigration Department TTPS guidance.
Fees
The current official fee schedule charges HK$600 per applicant when an application is submitted. That fee is non-refundable. An approved applicant then pays a separate visa issuance fee—normally HK$1,300 for an initial TTPS permission lasting more than 180 days. Each accompanying dependant has separate application and visa issuance fees. Check the official fee schedule before paying, as charges may change.
Dependants and life after approval
An eligible applicant may apply to bring a spouse or qualifying legally recognised civil partner, as well as unmarried dependent children under 18. The sponsor must demonstrate the ability to support them and provide suitable accommodation. Approved dependants may generally work or study in Hong Kong. Source: Immigration Department TTPS FAQ.
TTPS holders may take up or change employment, or establish or join a business, during their permitted stay without first seeking Immigration Department approval. To extend their stay, however, they normally need evidence of employment in Hong Kong with stable income or a genuinely operating business there. Extension applications can be submitted online within three months before permission expires; the department advises applying at least six weeks before expiry. An extension is not automatic. Source: Immigration Department TTPS guidance.
A Top Talent Pass is temporary permission to stay, not Hong Kong permanent residence. Someone who has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong continuously for at least seven years may apply for the right of abode, subject to the legal requirements.
Editorial note: the worldwide list above follows the Immigration Department’s PDF, including institutions whose usual programmes may not meet the bachelor’s-degree rules. Applicants must check both the institution and their specific qualification.
