Applicants admitted for study (in full-time undergraduate or post-graduate local programmes in local degree-awarding institutions) may apply to bring in their spouse or 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 ^{Note 5}, and unmarried dependent children under the age of 18 to the HKSAR under the prevailing dependant policy. Persons admitted or applying for admission for study will be the sponsors of their accompanying dependants to the HKSAR. An application for admission of a dependant may be favourably considered if:

1. There is reasonable proof of a genuine relationship between the dependant and the sponsor;
2. There is no known record to the detriment of the dependant; and
3. 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.

This entry arrangement does not apply to:

1. Former Mainland Chinese residents residing in the Macao SAR who have obtained Macao identity cards for less than seven years, unless they have acquired residence in the Macao SAR through the One-way Permit Scheme; and
2. Nationals of Afghanistan and North Korea .

Such dependants will normally be granted an initial stay of 12 months upon entry which is subject to annual extension upon application. Such application will be considered only when the applicant continues to meet the eligibility criteria for entry for residence as dependants (including that there is no change in circumstances which would have otherwise resulted in loss of sponsorship for the applicant, e.g. change in marriage relationship between the dependent spouse and the sponsor, or death of sponsor) and the sponsor remains a bona fide Hong Kong resident living in the HKSAR. Under the existing policy, while dependants whose sponsors have been admitted into the HKSAR for study may take up study in the HKSAR, they are prohibited from taking up employment in the HKSAR unless they have obtained prior permission from the Director of Immigration.

Please note that the eligibility criteria may be subjected to change from time to time.