Navigating the IANG Visa: Your Guide to Working in Hong Kong as a Non-Local Graduate/GBA Campus Graduate

Under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG), non-local graduates refer to non-local students Note who have obtained an undergraduate or higher qualification in a full-time and locally-accredited programme in the HKSAR.

Non-local graduates who submit applications to the Immigration Department within six months after the date of their graduation (i.e. the date shown on their graduation certificates) are classified as non-local recent graduates. Non-local recent graduates who wish to apply to stay and work in the HKSAR are not required to have secured an offer of employment upon application.

Non-local graduates who submit applications beyond six months of the date of their graduation are classified as non-local non-recent graduates. Non-local non-recent graduates who wish to return to work in the HKSAR are required to secure an offer of employment upon application. Their applications will be favourably considered so long as the job is at a level commonly taken up by degree holders and the remuneration package is at market level.

Non-local graduates refer to non-local students Note who have obtained an undergraduate or higher qualification in a full-time and locally-accredited programme in Hong Kong.

GBA campus graduates refer to persons who have obtained an undergraduate or higher qualification in a full-time programme offered by a higher education institution in the Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area jointly established by universities of the Mainland and Hong Kong in accordance with the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools.

An undergraduate or higher qualification” includes post-graduate non-degree qualifications such as Postgraduate Certificate in Laws, Postgraduate Diploma in Education, etc.

There is no restriction on the number of times a non-local graduate / GBA campus graduate may apply to stay/return/come and work under the IANG. A non-local graduate / GBA campus graduate may, after having been admitted to work in the HKSAR under the IANG and left the HKSAR for good subsequently, apply to re-enter the HKSAR for employment again under the IANG.

Overseas Chinese holding a People’s Republic of China (PRC) passport who (a) has permanent residence overseas; or (b) has been residing overseas for at least one year immediately before the submission of application (“overseas” means countries or territories outside the Mainland, the Macao Special Administrative Region, the HKSAR and Taiwan) and that the application is submitted from overseas may apply to enter the HKSAR under the IANG on the strength of the PRC passport.

Successful applicants under the IANG may be granted a 24 months’ stay on time limitation only without other conditions of stay provided that normal immigration requirements are met, regardless of the term of employment.

Persons admitted under the IANG are free to take up and change employment during their permitted stay without the need to seek prior approval from the Immigration Department. In other words, you may stay in the HKSAR and seek another job.

Non-permanent residents of the HKSAR, irrespective of their nationality and type of travel document held, do not require a re-entry visa/entry permit to enter the HKSAR provided that they return within the currency of their permitted limit of stay and that the circumstances upon which they have acquired their residential status remain unchanged.

Persons admitted under the IANG as a non-local recent graduate / GBA campus recent graduate may apply for extension of stay within four weeks before their limit of stay expires.

Dependants of persons admitted under the IANG may apply for extension of stay within four weeks before his/her limit of stay expires.

Upon application for extension of stay, non-local graduates / GBA campus graduates are required to have secured an offer of employment which is at a level commonly taken up by degree holders and the remuneration package is at market level. For those who have established or joined in business in the HKSAR, they are required to produce proof of their business. Applicants, whether recent or non-recent graduates, may be refused further extension of stay if they fail to prove that they will continue to work in the HKSAR or they have established or joined in business.