Hong Kong QMAS: 12 assessment criteria and the 6-item threshold in 2026
Under Hong Kong's Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS), the General Points Test (综合计分制) weighs 12 assessment criteria across six categories — age, academic qualifications, language proficiency, work experience, annual income and business ownership — and you need to satisfy six of those 12 before an online application can be submitted. That is the position set out on the Immigration Department's Quality Migrant Admission Scheme FAQ page as of October 2026, which carries a 1 March 2026 date. The same page warns that the threshold may change from time to time without prior notice, so the six-item figure is a current entry requirement, not a fixed rule written into law.
What are the 12 criteria under the General Points Test?
The 12 criteria sit inside six categories, and each one reads as a yes/no question about your profile rather than a graded score.
| Category | Criteria |
|---|---|
| (A) Age | (1) Is the applicant aged 50 or below? |
| (B) Academic qualifications | (2) Does the applicant hold a master's or doctoral degree awarded by a qualifying university? (3) Is that degree in a STEM subject — science, technology, engineering or mathematics? |
| (C) Language proficiency | (4) Does the applicant have good written and spoken proficiency in two languages? (5) Does the applicant have good written and spoken English? |
| (D) Work experience | (6) At least five years of work experience at degree level or expert level. (7) At least three years at degree or expert level with a multinational corporation or well-known enterprise, such as a listed company or one on the Forbes Global 2000, Fortune Global 500 or Hurun China 500 lists. (8) At least three years at degree or expert level in a specified field: innovation and technology, finance, or international trade (including cross-border sea and air transport, and supply chain management). (9) At least two years of international work experience at degree or expert level. |
| (E) Annual income | (10) Did the applicant's annual income reach HK$1,000,000 or more (or equivalent in foreign currency) in the year immediately before the application? |
| (F) Business ownership | (11) Does the applicant currently own a business entity that made an annual profit of HK$5,000,000 or more (or equivalent) in the year immediately before the application? (12) Does the applicant currently own a listed company? |
For a high-net-worth applicant, the practical reading is that categories (E) and (F) are two separate criteria, not one. Someone who draws a qualifying salary from a profitable private company could potentially answer yes to criteria 10 and 11 on the same facts, provided each is documented separately.
What does the six-item threshold actually do?
The threshold is a gate on submission, not a promise of selection. It determines whether the online system will accept your application under the General Points Test at all; it does not guarantee that a selection committee will approve it, and the FAQ page does not publish a scoring result or weight attached to any single criterion.
Two structural limits also apply. Each person may submit only one QMAS application at a time, and each applicant can be assessed under only one of the two mechanisms — the General Points Test or the Achievement-based Points Test (成就计分制). If you qualify under the Achievement-based route, the stated requirement is extremely high: an outstanding achievement award such as an Olympic medal, Nobel Prize or national/international award, or work recognised by peers or a substantial contribution to the development of your field. Applicants who do not meet it are refused outright.
How do the income and business-ownership tests work?
The income test looks at the year immediately before your application: HK$1,000,000 or more, or the equivalent in foreign currency. The Immigration Department accepts a salaries tax assessment notice for the previous year of assessment from the relevant tax authority, a document from your employer stating the value of prescribed stock options, or — where relevant — financial statements of a company you own, such as the most recent audited financial report, a profit and loss statement, or a profits tax return.
If your income is not in Hong Kong dollars, the online system offers 17 other currencies, including renminbi, US dollars, pounds sterling, euros, yen, Singapore dollars and Australian dollars, and converts the figure to Hong Kong dollars automatically. Income in any other currency must be converted by you into Hong Kong dollars or one of those 17 currencies before submission, with the supporting documents uploaded for the department's review.
The business-ownership criteria turn on control, not title. A "business entity" means a legally recognised company or enterprise over which you can exercise legal and financial control. Ownership is established either by absolutely and beneficially owning 50% or more of a non-listed company, giving you a controlling stake and influence over the business, or by holding a considerable proportion of shares in a listed company — usually an absolute beneficial holding of 10% or more — that demonstrates a substantial degree of ownership, control and influence over its strategic direction, operational decisions and overall governance. Criterion 11 additionally requires that the entity made HK$5,000,000 or more in profit in the year before the application.
How is work experience counted?
Two questions come up repeatedly: what counts as "degree level or expert level", and what makes experience "international".
The published criteria apply a degree-level or expert-level standard to criteria 6, 7, 8 and 9; the FAQ page does not publish a separate definition of that standard, so the evidence you submit has to carry the point. For the specified-fields criterion, the department looks mainly at your duties, position and job title rather than the industry classification of your employer. That changes if your role carries broader operational responsibility — chief executive, general manager, president — in which case the nature of the company's business becomes a relevant consideration.
International work experience must have been obtained outside your home country or territory. Years spent working for a foreign employer inside your own country do not meet the test on the face of the published criterion.
What does "qualifying university" mean for the education criteria?
A qualifying university is one listed on the aggregate list drawn up by the Labour and Welfare Bureau for the scheme. The list is built from universities recognised under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, plus institutions offering postgraduate programmes that ranked in the top ten of the QS Global MBA Rankings or the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking over the past five years. Degrees obtained through a qualifying university's continuing or professional education school, branch campus, extension arm or affiliated college are not accepted.
Three further conditions matter in practice. A bachelor's degree from a qualifying university does not satisfy the education criteria — the requirement is a master's or doctoral degree. For joint programmes, the criterion is met only if every awarding institution is a qualifying university. And if graduation documents have not been issued yet, the education criterion is not met, because the degree cannot be evidenced. Applicants also need credential verification documents issued by a third-party credential verification organisation or the awarding institution, along with the details needed to verify them online.
What has to be true before any of this applies?
The 12 criteria are assessed only after you clear four basic requirements: you must be 18 or over at the time of application; able to support yourself and any dependants in Hong Kong without relying on public assistance; free of any criminal conviction or adverse immigration record in Hong Kong or elsewhere; and possess a good educational background, normally a university degree, although in special cases documented technical qualifications, proven professional ability and experience or achievements may be considered.
Consider a hypothetical applicant: a 44-year-old founder with a master's degree from a qualifying university, eight years of degree-level experience including three in finance, English plus Mandarin, salary of HK$1.2 million last year, and a 60% holding in a company that made HK$6 million in profit. On the published criteria, that profile answers yes to items 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11 — enough to clear the gate. Everything above is general information about how the published criteria read, not an assessment of any individual's case or a prediction of outcome, so confirm details against the Immigration Department's latest published information or with a qualified professional before acting.
What happens after an approval?
Approval under the General Points Test normally allows a first stay of 36 months with no other conditions of stay attached; approval under the Achievement-based Points Test normally allows eight years. Holders can take and change employment freely during their permitted stay without prior approval from the department.
Extension is a separate test. Applications must be made within the three months before the current limit expires. Under the General Points Test, you need to satisfy the department that you have taken steps to settle and live in Hong Kong — for example, by taking up paid employment or establishing a business — and the usual pattern on approval is three years followed by two. There is also a top-talent route: someone admitted under the General Points Test who has stayed in Hong Kong for at least two years and whose salaries tax assessable income reached HK$2,000,000 or more in the previous year of assessment can apply for a five-year extension, counted from the start of the original limit, even before that limit expires.
Dependants can be included in the same online application. A spouse, or a partner in a same-sex or opposite-sex civil partnership, civil union or marriage legally and officially recognised where it was entered into, plus unmarried dependent children under 18, may apply as dependants; the applicant must show net assets sufficient to cover their own and their dependants' living and accommodation costs in Hong Kong for the first 12 months. Dependants admitted under the scheme may work or study in Hong Kong without restriction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to meet all 12 criteria to apply?
No. The current threshold is six of the 12. Meeting six allows you to submit an application under the General Points Test; it does not guarantee that the application will be approved, and the published threshold may change without prior notice.
Can I count both the income criterion and the business-ownership criteria?
They are three separate criteria (10, 11 and 12), so a single set of facts can satisfy more than one of them. Each criterion still needs its own evidence — tax or financial documents for income, and ownership plus profit documents for the business-entity criterion.
Does a bachelor's degree from a qualifying university count?
No. The education criteria require a master's or doctoral degree awarded by a qualifying university. The degree must also meet the standard of a Hong Kong-recognised master's or doctoral degree, and honorary degrees are not accepted.
How do I prove income that is not in Hong Kong dollars?
The online system offers 17 currencies besides the Hong Kong dollar and converts the amount automatically. For any other currency, convert the figure yourself into Hong Kong dollars or one of those 17 currencies before submitting, and upload the supporting documents.
Does working for a listed company automatically count as experience in a specified field?
No. The department looks at your duties, position and job title, not simply the industry classification of your employer. If your role carries broader operational responsibility — chief executive, general manager or president — the nature of the company's business is taken into account.
Can I submit more than one QMAS application or switch between the two mechanisms?
No. Each applicant may submit only one application at a time and can be assessed under only one mechanism, either the General Points Test or the Achievement-based Points Test.
Is the six-criterion threshold permanent?
The Immigration Department states that the threshold may be revised from time to time without prior notice, so treat six as the current figure and check the department's latest published information before you file.