Hong Kong Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (New CIES): 2026 Investor Guide

The New CIES was announced in the 2023–24 Budget to attract new capital and wealthy residents, and to support Hong Kong's asset and wealth management industry.^[1][4] It is an administrative immigration scheme, not a statute. Its terms are set out in the Scheme Rules, issued jointly by the Director-General of Investment Promotion (InvestHK) and the Director of Immigration, and applied alongside the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115). Both officials can amend the rules, and ImmD keeps "absolute discretion" over every residence application.^[1]

Work is split between two bodies:

• The New CIES Office within InvestHK assesses the money: the Net Asset Assessment, the check that the investment has been made, and the annual Portfolio Maintenance Requirements.^[1]
• ImmD decides the visa or entry permit, each extension of stay, and later permanent residency or unconditional stay.^[1]

The New CIES is separate from the original Capital Investment Entrant Scheme. That scheme ran from 2003 and was suspended on 15 January 2015, and its rules do not apply to new applicants.^[1]

Status: open, with steady demand. Applications reached 918 by the end of February 2025, 3,166 by the end of February 2026, and more than 3,300 (about HK$99 billion of expected investment) by April 2026, according to the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury.^[9][7][8] The scheme has no annual quota. The Chief Executive's Policy Address of 16 September 2026 did not announce any change to it in the government's summary.^[20]

The rules require a minimum net investment of HK$30 million. At least HK$27 million must sit in permissible financial assets and/or real estate, and HK$3 million must go into the CIES Investment Portfolio.^[1] In practice most money goes into funds and listed shares. Of the HK$55.6 billion verified by the end of February 2026, SFC-authorised funds made up 38.6%, equities 29.0%, investment-linked assurance schemes 9.9%, the CIES Investment Portfolio 9.9%, debt securities 9.5% and others 3.2%.^[7]

Financial assets must be held in a designated account in your own name, or in that of a qualifying holding company. The account is run by an eligible intermediary: a Hong Kong bank, an SFC Type 1 or Type 9 licensed firm, or a Class C insurer. You may use up to three, one of each type.^[1] You can manage the portfolio yourself or give a manager discretion. Dividends and interest can be withdrawn, but capital gains stay ring-fenced in the scheme until you leave it.^[1]

The investment may be made within a window that starts 180 days before you lodge your Net Asset Assessment (but no earlier than 1 March 2024) and ends 180 days after ImmD grants approval-in-principle.^[1] Certificates of deposit are an exception: they must be bought after approval-in-principle. From 1 November 2026, securities bought in an ordinary brokerage account and later moved into the designated account will not count for new applications.^[2]

Property is allowed but limited. Only your equity counts. You may take a mortgage from a Hong Kong-licensed lender, but the borrowed part is ignored, and refinancing may not increase the loan.^[1][3] Since 17 September 2025:

• All real estate together counts for at most HK$15 million, so at least HK$12 million must still go into financial assets on top of the HK$3 million portfolio.^[1]
• Residential property counts for at most HK$10 million, and it must be a single property with a transaction price of at least HK$30 million. Before that date the floor was HK$50 million. Property whose purchase was completed before 17 September 2025 stays under the old rules: a HK$50 million floor for a home and a HK$10 million total real-estate cap.^[1]
• Non-residential property (offices, retail, industrial) has no minimum price.^[1]

You can pay more than the counted amount. The extra "surplus equity" is yours to use as you like, and rental income does not need to be ring-fenced.^[1] Property must be held in your own name, a sole proprietorship or a company you wholly own.^[1] Take-up has been slow. As of the end of February 2025, no applicant had invested in residential property under the scheme,^[9] and in the February 2026 figures real estate falls inside the "others" line of 3.2%.^[7]

Every applicant puts HK$3 million into the CIES Investment Portfolio (CIES IP), which is overseen by the Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC). The portfolio invests through selected Hong Kong-based managers in early- and growth-stage companies in areas such as AI, sustainable technology, materials science and biotech.^[1][7] Each yearly "capital batch" is locked up for seven years. The first batch's lock-up runs from 1 January 2025, and the 2025 Capital Batch (applications received by 31 December 2025) runs from 1 January 2026.^[10][11]

The Scheme Rules say plainly that "capital preservation and dividends are not guaranteed". Withdrawal after lock-up depends on how fast the managers can realise their investments.^[1] Treat the HK$3 million as illiquid venture-capital exposure that may be worth less than you put in. You first deposit the HK$3 million as cash in your designated account, and HKIC's administrator then calls it into the portfolio by a set deadline.^[1]

Financial-assets route, family of three (applicant, spouse, one child under 18). The HK$30 million investment, plus ImmD fees at entry of HK$600 application and HK$1,300 visa per person, comes to HK$5,700 in government fees for the 24-month permit stage. Add a HK$600 entry visa for the applicant's 180-day investment visit if one is needed.^[5] Each later three-year extension costs HK$3,900 for the family. Add the CPA fees for at least three reports in the first year, plus the portfolio's running costs.

Mixed route with a HK$30 million flat. Only HK$10 million of the flat counts. You would still need HK$17 million in financial assets plus HK$3 million in the CIES IP, so HK$50 million in total, plus ad valorem stamp duty of 4.25% (HK$1,275,000) on the purchase.^[1][13] This route makes sense only if you wanted to buy the property anyway.

Under Scheme Rules para 2.1, an applicant must:^[1]

• Be 18 or over when applying for the Net Asset Assessment.
• Fall within the scheme's scope: a foreign national; a Chinese national who holds permanent residence in a foreign country; a Macao SAR resident; or a Chinese resident of Taiwan. Nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba and North Korea are excluded. Mainland Chinese without foreign permanent residence are not eligible.
• Prove net assets of at least HK$30 million, held throughout the six months before the Net Asset Assessment application and beneficially owned by the applicant. Your share of assets held jointly with family members counts. Assets held jointly with business partners do not. Unlisted assets need a valuation report.^[1][3]
• Invest HK$30 million net in permissible assets within the investment window.
• Have no adverse immigration record and meet normal security requirements.
• Be self-supporting. You must be able to support and house yourself and your dependants without relying on returns from the scheme assets, Hong Kong employment or public assistance.

There is no language test, no business-plan requirement, no minimum education and no interview requirement in the rules. Once admitted, entrants may work, hold office, be self-employed or join a business in Hong Kong.^[3]

Dependants are your spouse, or a partner in a same-sex or opposite-sex civil partnership, civil union or same-sex marriage that is legally recognised where it was entered into, and your unmarried dependent children under 18.^[1][4] De facto partners and fiancé(e)s are not covered, and adult children and parents cannot be added as dependants under this scheme.^[1][3] You must show a genuine relationship and be able to support dependants "well above the subsistence level" with suitable housing.^[1]

Dependants do not need any extra investment. Each pays the HK$600 application fee and the visa issue fee (HK$1,300 for a stay of more than 180 days), and each extension costs HK$1,300.^[5] They receive the same limit of stay as the principal entrant. They may take up employment or study in Hong Kong.^[4] Their status depends on yours: if you breach the rules, ImmD can require the whole family to leave within two months.^[1]

All applications are made online. The visa is issued as an e-Visa.^[4]

Hong Kong taxes on a territorial basis. Becoming resident under the scheme does not by itself make your worldwide income taxable.^[16]

• No tax on investment returns: dividends and bank interest received by individuals are not taxed, and individuals pay no capital gains tax. Gains from trading activity carried on in Hong Kong can, however, be taxed as profits.^[16][15]
• No estate duty, gift tax or wealth tax.^[15]
• Salaries tax applies only if you work in Hong Kong. The rate is the lower of progressive rates (up to 17%) or the standard rate of 15% on the first HK$5 million of net income and 16% above that, unchanged for 2026/27.^[14]
• Stamp duty applies at 0.2% on Hong Kong share transfers and on the property scale (4.25% for a HK$30 million home).^[15][13]
• Family offices: the scheme accepts a holding company that is a Family-owned Investment Holding Vehicle under Schedule 16E of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. The vehicle must be managed by an eligible single family office with at least HK$240 million in assets, have two full-time Hong Kong employees, and spend at least HK$2 million a year in Hong Kong. This links the visa to Hong Kong's profits-tax concession for family-office vehicles.^[1][12]

The main exposure is at home. US citizens remain taxable worldwide, and many countries tax former residents or apply exit or CFC rules. Hong Kong also exchanges financial-account data under CRS. Take advice in your current country before moving assets.

Permanent residency (right of abode). After at least seven years of continuous ordinary residence, you and your dependants may apply to become Hong Kong permanent residents.^[1] Non-Chinese nationals must also have entered on a valid travel document and declare that they have "taken Hong Kong as [their] place of permanent residence". ImmD looks at habitual residence, where your spouse and children live, income and tax compliance.^[17] Once you hold permanent residency you may sell the scheme assets.^[1] The permanent identity card is issued free.^[5]

Unconditional stay. If you kept the investment for seven years but did not live in Hong Kong enough to count as ordinarily resident, you can apply for unconditional stay instead. This lets you enter and stay without conditions or a time limit, and it also frees the assets.^[1] This is useful for investors who split their time between several homes.

Citizenship and passport. Hong Kong has no separate citizenship. The HKSAR passport is issued only to Chinese nationals who are Hong Kong permanent residents.^[1] A foreign national would have to apply to naturalise as a Chinese national under Article 7 of the Nationality Law. ImmD weighs factors such as settlement in Hong Kong, family ties, Chinese language ability and character, and the fee is HK$3,460. Approval is discretionary and cannot be appealed. Approved applicants may not keep their foreign nationality.^[18] The HKSAR passport gives visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 178 countries and territories.^[19] For most investors, then, the real end point is permanent residency rather than a second passport.

• 1 March 2024: scheme launched.^[1]
• 16 October 2024: residential property added as a permissible asset, at first with a HK$50 million minimum price.^[1]
• 11 November 2024: HKIC published the CIES Investment Portfolio details, with a seven-year lock-up from 1 January 2025 for the first batch.^[10]
• 26 February 2025: new ImmD fees for specified schemes: HK$600 application fee plus HK$600 or HK$1,300 for the visa, replacing the old flat HK$230.^[6]
• 1 March 2025: assets held through an eligible wholly owned private company started to count, along with other Net Asset Assessment enhancements, including the six-month look-back.^[1][3]
• 17 September 2025: residential floor cut to HK$30 million and real-estate cap raised to HK$15 million, following the 2025 Policy Address.^[1]
• 31 October 2025: HKIC announced the operational details of the 2025 Capital Batch (at least HK$2 billion, seven-year lock-up from 1 January 2026). Capital allocation from this batch began in the first quarter of 2026, with more than HK$3 billion invested.^[11][7]
• 26 February 2026: a new 6.5% top stamp-duty rate for residential property above HK$100 million, for instruments signed on or after this date. This does not affect a HK$30 million purchase.^[13]
• 1 March 2026: holding-company conditions updated, with no minimum incorporation period.^[12][7]
• 1 November 2026: for Net Asset Assessment applications lodged from this date, financial assets bought outside designated accounts will not count.^[2]

What to watch: the 16 September 2026 Policy Address focused on talent, industry and fertility measures, and the government's summary did not mention the New CIES.^[20] No change to the HK$30 million threshold has been announced. If you already hold securities, consider lodging before 1 November 2026, or plan to buy the qualifying assets through the designated account.

Good fit: families with liquid wealth well above HK$30 million who want a base in Asia with an international financial system, English common law and a low-tax regime. It also suits people who are happy to keep much of their portfolio in Hong Kong-listed and SFC-authorised products, and Chinese nationals with foreign permanent residence who want to return to Hong Kong. Wealthy families already setting up a single family office can fold the scheme into that structure.

Look elsewhere if: your budget is under US$1 million (see the lowest-cost residency programs compared), or you want a second passport while keeping your current one (see citizenship by investment versus residency programs). It is also a poor fit if you want visa-free Schengen travel from a European residence permit, or if you need full access to your capital within seven years.

• Singapore's Global Investor Programme is the closest regional rival. It gives permanent residence from the start, but needs S$10 million in a business or S$25 million in a family office, and also has business track-record tests.
• The UAE ten-year residence visa is far cheaper, from AED 2 million in property or a deposit, with no minimum stay. It has no route to permanent residency by time spent.
• New Zealand's Active Investor Plus visa starts at NZ$5 million in growth investments and offers residence from approval.
• Malaysia's MM2H residence program and Thailand's long-stay privilege membership suit lifestyle and retirement buyers on much smaller budgets.
• Japan's Business Manager visa (¥30 million capital since the October 2025 tightening) suits investors who will actually run a company. The Japanese naturalisation route takes about ten years.
• Outside Asia, compare the US EB-5 investor green card from US$800,000, and Swiss residence under lump-sum taxation for those who prefer an annual tax to a locked investment.

For a full overview, see our guide to residency-by-investment programs worldwide and the comparison of residence routes with the fastest path to a passport.