What you need to know about the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme

Applications for the scheme will begin in mid-2024.

The government will open applications for its Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES) starting mid-2024.

The scheme, which aims to enrich Hong Kong's talent pool and attract more new capital to the city, will be open to eligible individuals aged 18 or above, including foreign nationals, Chinese nationals who have obtained permanent resident status in a foreign country, Macao Special Administrative Region residents and Chinese residents of Taiwan

According to the governemnt, applicants must demonstrate that he or she has been "absolutely beneficially entitled to net assets of not less than $30m throughout the two years preceding application."
 
The applicant must also invest a minimum of $30m in permissible investment assets, including a minimum of $27m in assets such as equities, debt securities, certificates of deposit, subordinated debt, eligible collective investment schemes, limited partnership funds or non-residential real estate, and $3m that will be invested in a new CIES investment portfolio. 
 
Hong Kong Investment Corporation will set up and manage the new portfolio to make investments in companies or projects with a Hong Kong nexus, to support the development of innovation and technology industries and other strategic industries that are beneficial to the long-term development of the city's economy.
 
Upon successful application, an applicant may bring his or her dependents, including a spouse and unmarried dependent children under 18 years, to Hong Kong. The government will grant permission to stay for not more than two years. 
 
After the first two years, they may apply for an extension of stay of not more than three years and may subsequently apply for further extensions of not more than three years upon the expiry of each three years. 
 
Upon a period of continuous ordinary residence in Hong Kong of not less than seven years, they may apply to become Hong Kong permanent residents.