For business owners, founders and cross-border entrepreneurs considering Hong Kong as a base for regional expansion, the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) can provide a route to live and work in Hong Kong without first securing a local job offer.
However, business owners should not approach the application in the same way as salaried employees.
Entrepreneurs may have income from company profits, salaries, allowances or other business-related sources across different jurisdictions. Preparing clear evidence of income, company ownership and business activities can therefore be an important part of the application process.
Here is what business owners should prepare before submitting a Hong Kong Top Talent Pass application.
The Top Talent Pass Scheme currently has three application categories.
Category A applies to applicants whose annual income reached HK$2.5 million or above, or the equivalent in foreign currency, during the year immediately preceding the application.
Importantly for entrepreneurs, qualifying annual income can include taxable employment or business income, such as salary, allowances, stock options and profits derived from companies owned by the applicant. Personal investment income is not counted.
For business income, the Hong Kong Immigration Department generally expects the applicant to have continuously held shares in the relevant company throughout the applicable tax assessment year.
Category B applies to bachelor’s degree graduates of eligible universities who have accumulated at least three years of work experience during the five years immediately before applying.
Category C applies to bachelor’s degree graduates of eligible universities within the previous five years who have less than three years of work experience. Category C is subject to an annual quota and additional conditions.
For established business owners with substantial income, Category A may therefore be particularly relevant.
This is one of the most important areas for Category A applicants.
Simply owning a company with significant revenue does not necessarily mean the owner personally has HK$2.5 million of qualifying annual income.
Applicants should be prepared to demonstrate where their personal qualifying income came from and how it was calculated.
According to the Hong Kong Immigration Department, supporting documents may include:
These documents help establish that the income declared in the application is supported by identifiable business or employment activities.
For entrepreneurs operating several companies, it is advisable to organise the supporting documents company by company rather than submitting unrelated financial records without a clear structure.
Business owners relying on income from their own companies should also prepare documentation showing their relationship with those businesses.
Depending on the jurisdiction and corporate structure, useful documents may include company registration documents, shareholder records, corporate ownership information and other official records showing the applicant’s interest in the company.
This becomes especially important where company profits form part of the applicant’s claimed annual income.
The objective should be to create a clear documentary chain:
Applicant → Company Ownership → Business Profit → Applicant’s Qualifying Income
The easier this relationship is to verify from the documents, the clearer the application file becomes.
Cross-border entrepreneurs frequently operate through several companies, currencies and jurisdictions.
For example, an applicant may own a company in Mainland China, receive income through another regional entity and conduct business with customers across Southeast Asia.
Before submitting the TTPS application, check whether the information across your documents is consistent.
Pay particular attention to:
Income amount → Tax records → Company financial statements → Shareholding → Application declarations
Large unexplained differences between documents may require additional supporting evidence or clarification.
The online TTPS system supports Hong Kong dollars and 17 major foreign currencies, including RMB, USD, SGD and MYR. Where income is denominated in one of these supported currencies, the system converts the declared amount into Hong Kong dollars.
Applicants applying under Categories B or C should pay particular attention to academic documentation.
These categories require a bachelor’s degree from an institution included on the applicable list of eligible universities.
Applicants are also required to provide verification proof of their academic qualification issued by an accepted third-party credential verification organisation or the awarding institution, together with the information necessary for online authentication.
Category B applicants should additionally organise evidence demonstrating the required work experience.
Business owners should therefore avoid assuming that their entrepreneurial background alone replaces the academic requirements applicable to Categories B and C.
Obtaining the Top Talent Pass is only the first stage.
Successful applicants under the TTPS are admitted without being tied to one employer during their initial stay. The Immigration Department currently states that Category A applicants are normally granted an initial stay of 36 months, while Categories B and C normally receive 24 months.
However, extension of stay is a separate consideration.
At extension stage, an applicant generally needs to demonstrate qualifying employment in Hong Kong or that they have established or joined a business in Hong Kong.
For entrepreneurs, this means that the substance of their Hong Kong business activities can become increasingly important.
Where an applicant has established or joined a Hong Kong business, supporting documentation for extension may include the Business Registration Certificate, Certificate of Incorporation or other applicable business-registration records.
This is why entrepreneurs should consider their longer-term Hong Kong strategy rather than viewing TTPS approval as an isolated immigration exercise.
For cross-border entrepreneurs intending to use Hong Kong as a regional business base, several questions are worth considering before applying:
Not every TTPS applicant needs to establish a company simply to submit the initial application.
But for entrepreneurs who genuinely intend to operate a business in Hong Kong, planning the corporate structure early can make the transition from obtaining immigration status to establishing actual operations much smoother.
A common mistake is to start the online application first and organise supporting documents afterwards.
A better approach is to prepare the documentation in advance.
For a business owner, the preparation file may include:
Personal documents
Passport and other required identification records.
Eligibility documents
Income evidence for Category A, or academic and work-experience evidence for Categories B or C.
Business documents
Company registration records, shareholding information and relevant corporate documentation.
Financial documents
Tax assessments, audited accounts, profit and loss statements and other evidence supporting declared income.
Supporting explanations
Where the ownership or income structure is complex, prepare a clear explanation showing how the different entities and income sources are connected.
The TTPS application itself is submitted online together with the required supporting documents.
The Hong Kong Top Talent Pass Scheme can be particularly relevant to entrepreneurs who want greater flexibility to manage businesses, establish operations and develop commercial activities in Hong Kong.
But business owners often have more complicated financial and corporate structures than ordinary salaried applicants.
The key is therefore not simply to prove that you own a successful business.
You should be able to demonstrate clearly who owns the business, where the income originates, how much qualifying income you personally received, and which documents support those facts.
For entrepreneurs planning to establish a longer-term presence in Hong Kong, TTPS preparation can also be coordinated with company incorporation, banking, accounting, tax planning and ongoing corporate compliance.
Preparing these elements early can help create a more organised path from Top Talent Pass application → Hong Kong entry → business establishment → ongoing operations and future extension of stay.
Eligibility and immigration requirements are subject to change and individual assessment. Applicants should check the latest requirements of the Hong Kong Immigration Department before submission.
📞 Free 1-on-1 Consultation Now,
Official Service Hotline: +86-755-82148419
Cell: +86-13823131503;+60 19-309 2363
WeChat ID: 13823131503;
WhatsApp:+86-13823131503;+60 19-309 2363
Email: mytannet08@gmail.com; susiehu@citilinkia.com