What’s the Minimum Capital Required for a Hong Kong Business Investment Visa?
Posted in Hadley Says…, Investment Visas, The Hong Kong Visa Geeza /
The Business Investment Visa in Hong Kong is different from the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme.
The former requires an applicant to establish or join in a Hong Kong business actively, while the latter is just a matter of passively investing in the HKSAR.
The Capital Investment Entrant Scheme requires at least ten million Hong Kong dollars while the Business Investment Visa does not require any such minimum.
Instead, you need to have sufficient capital to give effect to a business plan which will demonstrate to the Hong Kong Immigration Department that you can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong.
Of course, this is like asking how long is a piece of string.
So, instead of focusing on a specific minimum number, it is better to produce a set of financial projections that show the following:
1 You can finance the first 12 months of your business and life in Hong Kong using your investment funds through until such a time as you have revenues, then profits, coming into your company.
2 You can create at least 1 or 2 local jobs in the first 12 to 18 months of operation – and have the money to fund your business through to this time – and beyond.
3 You have sufficient capital to give effect to your overall business plan such that it stands a reasonable chance of becoming a solidly entrenched commercial entity in its own right before too long.
So it all depends on your business plan, your prior experience and the overall story.
Business investment visas can be approved with cash in the bank at just 300,000 or 400,000 Hong Kong dollars if your story is a good one but be aware, bottom scraping should be avoided at all costs if you want to sleep well at night whilst the Immigration department are considering your application!
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The Hong Kong Visa Geeza (a.k.a Stephen Barnes) is a co-founder of the Hong Kong Visa Centre and author of the Hong Kong Visa Handbook. A law graduate of the London School of Economics, Stephen has been practicing Hong Kong immigration since 1993 and is widely acknowledged as the leading authority on business immigration matters here for the last 24 years.
