Hong Kong Talent Routes in 2026: TTPS, QMAS, GEP, ASMTP and IANG Compared
Hong Kong's five main talent routes are not remotely the same size, and they do not draw from the same places. On the Hong Kong Immigration Department's "Visas" statistics page (date stamp 17-08-2026 on the page), 2025 approvals ran: Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) 31,508; General Employment Policy (GEP) 31,278; Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG) 27,630; Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) 26,714; Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS) 7,101. The sharper difference is origin: on the three routes whose region tables carry a Chinese Mainland line, Chinese Mainland accounted for 94% of TTPS approvals, 95% of IANG approvals and 97% of QMAS approvals, while GEP's region table has no Chinese Mainland line and is the only route with a genuinely dispersed applicant base.
Which route approves the most people, and how fast is each running in 2026?
TTPS and GEP are effectively tied at the top of the 2025 table, separated by 230 approvals. IANG and ASMTP form a second tier in the high-20,000s, and QMAS sits roughly a quarter the size of the leaders — but QMAS counts a different thing, as explained below.
The 2026 January–June column is where the routes separate. ASMTP recorded 13,654 approvals in six months, marginally more than GEP's 13,640 and equal to 51% of its own 2025 full-year total. TTPS ran at 47% of its 2025 total. IANG and QMAS both ran at 27%, which is what you would expect from routes tied to academic cycles and selection exercises rather than continuous intake.
| Route | 2025 approvals | 2026 (Jan–Jun) | H1 2026 as share of 2025 | Dominant applicant origin, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) | 31,508 | 14,847 | 47% | Chinese Mainland, 29,638 (94%) |
| General Employment Policy (GEP) | 31,278 | 13,640 | 44% | No single origin above 18%; largest named is South Korea, 5,516 |
| Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG) | 27,630 | 7,480 | 27% | Chinese Mainland, 26,355 (95%) |
| Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) | 26,714 | 13,654 | 51% | No region breakdown published |
| Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS) | 7,101 | 1,940 | 27% | Chinese Mainland, 6,888 (97%) |
QMAS figures refer to the number of successful cases passing the selection exercise, not to visas issued.
Where do approved applicants actually come from?
TTPS, QMAS and IANG are overwhelmingly Chinese Mainland routes in practice. In the first half of 2026 the shares moved slightly but did not change character: Chinese Mainland was 13,819 of 14,847 TTPS approvals (93%), 1,864 of 1,940 QMAS cases (96%) and 7,017 of 7,480 IANG approvals (94%). The non-mainland presence on these three routes is thin and consistent — Australia, Canada and the U.S.A. appear in the QMAS region table in the tens, while TTPS also lists Singapore, with all four TTPS lines in the tens to low hundreds; on IANG the largest non-mainland lines are India (130 in 2025), South Korea (176) and Malaysia (73).
GEP is the outlier and the reason a single "Hong Kong talent visa" mental model fails. Its 2025 region table lists South Korea 5,516, Japan 3,689, the United Kingdom 2,472, the U.S.A. 2,121, India 1,518, France 1,187, the Philippines 934, Australia 883 and Canada 645, with 12,313 — 39% of the total — in the residual "Others" line. Notably, GEP's region table carries no separate Chinese Mainland line, unlike the three routes above. ASMTP publishes no region breakdown at all on this page, only sector, remuneration and qualification tables.
What does the profile of approved applicants say about each route?
The qualification and remuneration tables show that the routes are absorbing different kinds of people, not just different volumes.
- IANG is a master's-degree route. 22,232 of its 27,630 approvals in 2025 held a master's degree (80%), with 2,367 doctorates and 3,024 bachelor's degrees.
- QMAS concentrates in two sectors. Financial and accounting services accounted for 2,524 of 7,101 cases (36%) and information technology and telecommunications 1,864 (26%). Under the enhanced criteria, 4,414 cases held a master's or doctoral degree from an eligible university, with a separate count of 3,541 cases where such a degree was pertinent to STEM disciplines.
- TTPS skews commercial and technology. Within the 25,897 sector-declared approvals, commerce and trade led with 4,311, followed by innovation and technology 3,947 and financial services 3,445. Of the 10,198 Category A approvals reporting income, 5,355 fell in the HK$2.5 million to under HK$3 million band and 938 reported HK$10 million or above.
- GEP carries a wide salary spread. 14,850 of 31,278 approvals (47%) were below HK$20,000 monthly, while 3,430 (11%) were at HK$80,000 or above; 19,882 held a bachelor's degree or equivalent. Its largest named sector line was recreation and sports (4,517), ahead of arts/culture (3,364), with 15,164 (48%) in the residual "Others" line.
- ASMTP has an unusual qualification profile. 11,061 of 26,714 approvals (41%) fall under "other academic qualifications", against 9,418 bachelor's degrees; 10,183 (38%) were below HK$20,000 monthly.
Which of these numbers can you compare directly?
Not all of them, and mixing them is the most common way these statistics get misread.
QMAS counts successful cases passing the selection exercise, so it measures a screening outcome rather than a visa issued. TTPS publishes two different denominators: 31,508 approvals by region in 2025, but only 25,897 in the sector table, because the sector figures cover approvals from 1 March 2023 onward where applicants with work experience declared the sector of their previous occupation — a change the department made to application procedures on that date. The TTPS income table is smaller still at 10,198, because it covers Category A applicants only; Categories B and C are not required to submit prior-year income. GEP, ASMTP and IANG totals are consistent across their own tables, but each route publishes a different set of breakdowns, so a like-for-like comparison is only possible on the dimensions a given pair shares.
What about the smaller schemes on the same page?
Two adjacent routes sit well below the five and are worth knowing about so their small numbers are not mistaken for a data gap. The Technology Talent Admission Scheme recorded 161 approvals in 2025 and 95 in the first half of 2026, with artificial intelligence the largest sector line (82 in 2025, 30 in 2026) and Chinese Mainland the largest origin (143 in 2025). The Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents recorded 68 approvals in 2025 and 40 in the first half of 2026, spread across Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. among others.
How do you turn this benchmark into a shortlist?
Read the volume column first, because it tells you how heavily a route is used in practice. Then read the origin column, because it tells you which route people in your position are actually entering through. Then check the profile tables — qualification, sector, remuneration — to see whether your own profile sits inside the observed range or far outside it.
Suppose an applicant holds a master's degree from a Hong Kong institution and has no job offer. The data shows IANG is the route where master's holders dominate the approval pool, while TTPS and QMAS show large mainland-sourced volumes with different sector and income profiles. That is an observation about where comparable profiles have been approved, not a prediction about any individual outcome.
This benchmark is general reference only and is not personalised advice. Eligibility conditions, fees, processing times and quotas are not part of these figures and change over time, so any specific plan should be confirmed against the Immigration Department's current published rules or with a qualified professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Hong Kong talent route has the highest approval volume?
The Top Talent Pass Scheme led in 2025 with 31,508 approvals, narrowly ahead of the General Employment Policy at 31,278. In the first half of 2026 the two remained close, with TTPS at 14,847 and GEP at 13,640.
Can QMAS's 7,101 be compared directly with TTPS's 31,508?
Only loosely. The department notes that QMAS figures refer to the number of successful cases passing the selection exercise, whereas the other routes report approved applications. The two numbers measure different stages of different processes.
Which route is the most internationally mixed?
GEP, by a wide margin. Its 2025 approvals came from South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, the U.S.A., India, France, the Philippines, Australia and Canada, with 39% in the residual "Others" category. TTPS, QMAS and IANG each drew 94% or more of their 2025 approvals from Chinese Mainland.
Why is ASMTP's first-half 2026 number almost identical to GEP's?
ASMTP recorded 13,654 approvals between January and June 2026 against GEP's 13,640, despite a smaller 2025 total. That is 51% of its own 2025 full-year figure, the highest run rate of the five routes, which points to a concentration of ASMTP approvals in the first half of the year.
Do these statistics tell me whether I qualify for a route?
No. The page reports breakdowns of approvals by region, industry, remuneration, income and academic qualification. It shows who has been approved, not the eligibility criteria, which should be confirmed against the Immigration Department's current published rules.
Why is the TTPS sector table smaller than the TTPS region table?
The sector figures cover 25,897 approvals against 31,508 in the region table, because the department adjusted application procedures on 1 March 2023 to require applicants with work experience to declare their sector. The sector statistics therefore cover approvals from that date onward where the declaration was made.