The Top Talent Pass Scheme, introduced by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee last October to attract high-earners and foreign graduates from top universities, had received over 20,000 applications as of late March, according to the Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun.
In an op-ed for the state-owned Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao, Sun revealed that almost 12,000 applicants so far had been granted a two-year working visa, along with around 8,300 dependents. Applications are still being processed.
“The popularity of this scheme among foreign talent has exceeded our expectations,” the official wrote.
The scheme appears intended to counteract a “brain drain” which saw a net outflow of 60,000 residents in 2022. The vast majority of those approved for Top Talent Pass visas are mainland Chinese.
Sun revealed that over half of the applicants were graduates from the world’s top 100 universities with at least three years of working experience, while 27 per cent of them were also graduates from top universities but with less than three years of experience.
High-earners with annual salaries of at least HK$2,500,000 made up 22 per cent of the total applicants. Each approved high-earner brought an average of 1.46 dependents.
“The families of the applicants will become part of the Hong Kong family and contribute to the city,” Sun wrote.
Among the nearly 12,000 applicants approved so far, over 9,200 have already obtained their visas. They have either already arrived or are planning to come to Hong Kong within six months.
Sun said universities on the mainland had been growing rapidly and Hong Kong authorities would assess and modify the scheme based on the needs of the local market and the global competition for talent.
“Other than universities in the mainland that made it to the world’s 100, we would consider other reputable universities in the country as well,” Sun added.
In response to a lawmaker’s query, Director of Immigration Au Ka-wang said on April 6 that nearly 95 per cent of the applicants for the Top Talent Pass Scheme were from mainland China, with only three per cent coming from Canada, Australia, the US and Singapore.
The Top Talent Pass Scheme, introduced in Lee’s maiden Policy Address, allows high-earners and recent graduates from the world’s top 100 universities with some work experience to obtain a two-year visa without first having to secure a job offer.
The scheme came under fire when a controversial scientist who produced genetically edited babies and was jailed in mainland China for violating medical regulations had his application approved in February. It was later rejected by Hong Kong authorities.
The Immigration Department later started requiring visa applicants who use talent admission schemes to declare any prior criminal convictions.
Correction 14.4: A previous headline for this article incorrectly stated that there were 12,000 applications for the visa scheme. In fact, there were 20,000 applications, of which 12,000 were approved.
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