Short answer
Pakistanis need a visa to study in Hong Kong. You complete form ID 995A, your sponsor, usually the university, completes ID 995B, and the file goes to the Immigration Department online or by post. Processing normally takes six weeks from a complete file, and the fee is HK$330, paid after approval for an e-Visa. There is no published funds figure. Stay more than 180 days and you must register for an identity card within 30 days of arrival. Degree students are, for now, temporarily exempted from the usual work limits.
How does the Hong Kong student route actually work?
In one stage, handled by one department. There is no certificate filed first in Hong Kong and a visa issued later at an embassy, as Japan does it, and no admission form followed by a residence permit, as the mainland does it. You and a sponsor in Hong Kong apply together to the Hong Kong Immigration Department, and if it approves, you pay and download an e-Visa.
The documents that set the rules
The Immigration Department publishes a page for students and a guidebook for entry for study, numbered ID(E) 996 and dated November 2025. The guidebook includes the full checklist of documents and the conditions of stay, including the work rules. Where I quote a rule in this guide, it comes from one of those two unless I say otherwise.
If you are still deciding between Hong Kong and somewhere else, the destination comparison sets the main countries side by side on cost, language and what happens after graduation.
Who can study in Hong Kong on a student visa?
The guidebook says an application may be favourably considered if four conditions are met. You are admitted to an eligible institution or programme, you meet the age limits for school study if that applies, you hold an acceptance letter, and you can pay for the course and your living costs without working and without public funds.
Eligible programmes
For a Pakistani student the relevant categories are full-time locally-accredited post-secondary programmes, which includes most bachelor’s, taught master’s and research degrees at Hong Kong universities, and part-time locally-accredited taught postgraduate local programmes. Exchange students and school pupils have their own categories.
The nationalities that are excluded
The guidebook says the arrangement does not apply to nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba, Laos, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nepal and Vietnam, with a narrow exception for Laos, Nepal and Vietnam on publicly funded degree programmes. Pakistan is not on that list. That matters because some older advice in Pakistan still groups Pakistani applicants with restricted nationalities. The current guidebook does not.
Discretion, always
The guidebook says approval is entirely discretionary and that the Director of Immigration may refuse an application even when it meets every criterion. Meeting the checklist is necessary. It is not a promise.
Who is your local sponsor?
Every applicant must nominate a sponsor in Hong Kong. This is the feature of the Hong Kong system that most often confuses families, because it sounds as if you need a relative in the city. You do not.
The institution as sponsor
The guidebook says the sponsor can be the educational institution granting the acceptance. For university students this is the normal arrangement. The institution completes form ID 995B, and several of the sponsor documents on the checklist, such as a copy of the sponsor’s identity card and proof of the sponsor’s financial standing, are marked as not required when the sponsor is the institution.
An individual as sponsor
An individual sponsor must be 18 or over, a bona fide Hong Kong resident, acquainted with you, and financially able to support you and give you accommodation. They provide a copy of their identity card, proof of their financial standing and a written undertaking to support and house you during your studies. This route is more common for school pupils than for university students.
Students under 18
If you are under 18, one of your parents must authorise the sponsor or a relative or friend in Hong Kong to act as your guardian, with a consent letter signed by both the guardian and the parent. You also need proof of your accommodation arrangement. A Pakistani student starting a bachelor’s degree at 17 falls under this rule.
How do you submit the application, and how long does it take?
From Pakistan, online is the practical route. The guidebook describes two ways in: online through GovHK, or by post to Immigration Headquarters.
The forms
- ID 995A, completed by you, with a recent photograph fixed on page 2;
- ID 995B, completed by your sponsor;
- a copy of your passport pages showing your details, issue and expiry dates;
- the letter of acceptance from the institution;
- proof of financial support, if the institution is your sponsor;
- certified English or Chinese translations of anything in another language, Urdu included.
Online or by post
The guidebook says the applicant, any accompanying dependants and the sponsor can submit the application and upload documents online through the designated GovHK page. Alternatively, the completed forms and documents can be posted by the applicant or the sponsor to the Receipt and Despatch Unit at Immigration Headquarters, 61 Po Yap Road, Tseung Kwan O. The department warns that underpaid mail will not be accepted. The guidebook does not describe a separate route through a mission in Pakistan for this category, so do not plan around one.
Six weeks, from a complete file
The guidebook says it normally takes six weeks to process a visa or entry permit application for study upon receipt of all the required documents, and that the department cannot start processing until everything has arrived. In practice the six weeks start on the day the last missing paper lands, not the day you first pressed submit.
What is the fee, and how does the e-Visa work?
You pay only after approval, and the visa itself is a document you download, not a sticker in your passport.
The fee rose in September 2025
The Immigration Department revised many of its fees from 8 September 2025. Its announcement lists the ordinary visa and the single-entry permit in the general category rising from HK$230 to HK$330. The fee table, updated on 8 April 2026, still shows HK$330. Higher fees of HK$600 to apply and HK$1,300 to issue apply to a list of specified talent and investment schemes, and student visas are not on that list. Your approval notice tells you the amount to pay, so treat that notice as the final word.
Paying and downloading
For applicants outside the Mainland, the notification of the result includes a payment link. The guidebook lists credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay and JCB only), Payment by Phone Service, the Faster Payment System and three Mainland e-wallets. After payment you can download or print the e-Visa yourself.
Using it at the border
On arrival you present your valid passport and the e-Visa, saved on a phone or printed on a sheet of white A4 paper, and scan the encrypted QR code at the immigration counter. Carry a printed copy as well.
| Item | What the official page says |
|---|---|
| Visa needed | Yes, Pakistan is marked visa required for any purpose |
| Forms | ID 995A by the applicant, ID 995B by the local sponsor |
| Submission | Online through GovHK, or by post to Immigration Headquarters |
| Processing | Normally six weeks after all documents are received |
| Fee | HK$330 for an ordinary visa or single-entry permit, since 8 September 2025 |
| Visa format | e-Visa with a QR code, on a phone or printed on A4 |
| Stay for degree students | In line with the programme, up to six years on entry |
| Identity card | Register within 30 days of arrival if permitted to stay over 180 days |
How much money does Hong Kong want to see?
No figure is published. The guidebook sets a test, not an amount: you must be able to meet the course fees and the cost of your maintenance and accommodation without working and without recourse to public funds.
What the checklist asks for
When the institution is your sponsor, the checklist asks for a copy of proof of your financial support, and gives bank statements, savings account passbooks, tax receipts and salary slips as examples. When an individual sponsors you, the same kind of evidence is asked of them, with an undertaking to support and house you.
Why “without working” matters
The work rules below are generous, and families sometimes count on wages to cover rent. The financial test says the opposite: the money has to be there without the job. Treat any wages as a margin, not as rent money.
What a Pakistani file usually needs
- a bank statement covering several months, not a single balance certificate on its own;
- evidence of the sponsor’s income, such as salary slips or tax returns from FBR;
- proof of the relationship between you and the parent or relative paying;
- a scholarship or tuition waiver letter, if the university has given one;
- an explanation for any large recent deposit, because the source matters as much as the balance.
The guide to a refused student visa explains how funds problems show up in a refusal and what has to change before you apply again.
What happens when you arrive, and the identity card?
You enter on the e-Visa, and if your permitted stay is longer than 180 days you have 30 days to register for a Hong Kong identity card.
The 30-day rule
The Immigration Department says all Hong Kong residents aged 11 or over, including those permitted to stay more than 180 days, must register for an identity card unless exempted, and that new arrivals must register within 30 days of arrival. Someone permitted to stay 180 days or less, such as a short exchange student, does not need to apply.
Booking and cost
Appointments can be booked online, through the Immigration Department mobile app or by phone, and the booking window runs 96 working days ahead. The fee table lists first registration as free. Bring your passport showing your condition of stay, and book as soon as you have a flight date.
Health insurance
The guidebook’s checklist does not include medical insurance, and I could not find an Immigration Department requirement for student health insurance on an official page on the day of writing. A university may set its own requirement, so ask yours what it expects and what any cover it arranges includes.
Can you work while studying in Hong Kong?
Hong Kong has a standing set of rules and, on top of them, a temporary exemption that removes most of the limits for degree students.
The standing rule
A student’s conditions of stay say you may not take up any employment, paid or unpaid, or set up or join a business. The guidebook then makes exceptions for non-local students, excluding exchange students, on full-time locally-accredited local programmes at undergraduate level or above lasting at least one academic year. They may work on campus for not more than 20 hours a week throughout the year, and in any job and any place from 1 June to 31 August inclusive. Unused hours cannot be carried from one week to the next.
The temporary exemption
The same students are, in the guidebook’s word, temporarily exempted from those restrictions and may take up employment during their limit of stay, or within the period in the No Objection Letter issued to them, whichever is shorter. The Immigration Department’s question and answer page dates the arrangement for undergraduates from 1 November 2024. The government had extended it to postgraduates first, in November 2023. A Legislative Council paper of September 2025 said the government would continue the exemption. No end date is published, so check the current guidebook before you rely on it.
Internships
Degree students may take study-related internships endorsed by designated officers of the institution, not by an individual faculty member. There is no restriction on salary, hours or employer, but an internship cannot begin before you have started classes, or after you have met all the requirements for graduation.
| Type of work | What the guidebook allows |
|---|---|
| On-campus part-time work | Up to 20 hours a week throughout the year, no rollover of unused hours |
| Summer work | No limit on hours or location from 1 June to 31 August |
| Internship, degree level | Study-related and endorsed, up to one academic year or a third of the programme |
| Internship, sub-degree | Mandatory and study-related, up to six months, for programmes of two years or more |
| Temporary exemption | Degree students exempted from the restrictions, no end date published |
| Exchange students | Not covered by the part-time and exemption arrangements |
How long can you stay, and how do extensions work?
The guidebook says students on full-time locally-accredited post-secondary programmes are generally given a stay in line with the normal length of the programme, up to a maximum of six years on entry, and limited by the validity of your passport. Students on other courses normally get 12 months or the length of the course, whichever is shorter.
If your passport expires during your degree, your permitted stay may be cut short to match it, so renew it first.
Extensions are applied for within four weeks before your limit of stay expires, on form ID 91, with a current letter from the institution confirming you need more time. The Immigration Department says routine extension cases are normally finalised in two to three weeks, and may take longer in the June to August peak. The fee for an extension in the general category is also HK$330 in the current table.
Bringing a spouse or children
Students on full-time undergraduate or postgraduate local programmes at local degree-awarding institutions may apply to bring a spouse and unmarried children under 18, if they can support them well above subsistence level. Dependants may study but may not work without prior permission from the Director of Immigration.
What funding exists: the PhD Fellowship and government scholarships?
Two government schemes are worth knowing about, and both are run from Hong Kong. Neither has an agent in Pakistan.
The Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme
The Research Grants Council runs the scheme for PhD students worldwide. Its page gives an annual stipend of HK$344,400 for 2026/27, with a conference and research-related travel allowance of HK$14,400 a year, each for up to three years. For 2027/28 there are 400 fellowships, and applications run from 1 September 2026 to 12 noon Hong Kong time on 1 December 2026. The Education Bureau told the Legislative Council in October 2026 that the annual quota will rise from 400 to 550 places gradually, from 2027/28 to 2029/30.
The Belt and Road Scholarship
The Education Bureau’s HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund page says the Belt and Road Scholarship covers full tuition fees, renewed each year subject to satisfactory academic performance. It names six designated countries, and Pakistan is not one of them, but there is a separate category for other Belt and Road countries and one for research postgraduates. A 2025 Legislative Council reply lists Pakistani awardees, and the quota rises to 200 places a year from 2027/28. The page does not set out an application route, so ask your university.
| Scheme | What it pays | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong PhD Fellowship, stipend | HK$344,400 a year (2026/27) | Up to three years |
| Hong Kong PhD Fellowship, travel | HK$14,400 a year (2026/27) | For conferences and research travel |
| PhD Fellowship 2027/28 round | 400 fellowships | Applications 1 September to 1 December 2026 |
| Belt and Road Scholarship | Full tuition fees | Renewed yearly on academic performance, 200 places a year from 2027/28 |
Where else to look
The Education Bureau has told the Legislative Council that from the 2026/27 academic year the ceiling for self-financing non-local students at each funded institution rises from the equivalent of 40 to 50 per cent of local student places. More places do not mean more scholarships, so ask each university directly what it offers non-local students.
Is studying in Hong Kong the same as studying in mainland China?
No, and the difference is practical, not political. The route, the documents, the fee and the authority are all different.
| Point | Hong Kong | Mainland China |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides | Hong Kong Immigration Department | Chinese Embassy or consulate, then the public security bureau |
| What you get | An e-Visa you download | An X1 visa, then a residence permit |
| Where you apply | Online or by post, with a local sponsor | In Pakistan, at the visa centre |
| After arrival | Identity card within 30 days if staying over 180 days | Residence permit within 30 days of entry |
| Part-time work | On campus and summer rules, plus a temporary exemption for degree students | Set under mainland rules |
The mainland route, including the X1 visa, the JW201 and JW202 forms and the 30-day residence permit, is covered in the guide to studying in China from Pakistan. A Hong Kong e-Visa does not admit you to the mainland, and a Chinese visa does not let you study in Hong Kong. If your plan involves both, for example a joint programme, ask the university which authority issues which permission.
What happens after you graduate?
Briefly, because this site does not cover work visas. The Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates, known as IANG, let a fresh graduate of a full-time locally-accredited programme at degree level or above apply to stay. The Immigration Department says recent graduates who apply within six months of graduation are generally granted 24 months’ stay with no other conditions. IANG is one of the specified schemes with its own fee structure, and anyone applying after six months is treated as a non-recent graduate under a different test.
The six-month window is the part to remember while you are still a student. It runs from the date on your graduation certificate, not from your last exam.
How do you apply, step by step?
The order below puts the sponsor question early, because it decides who signs ID 995B and who submits the file.
Get an offer on an eligible full-time programme
The Immigration Department’s guidebook for entry for study accepts students on full-time locally-accredited post-secondary programmes, among other routes. Pakistani nationals are not on the list of excluded nationalities. You need a letter of acceptance from the institution before anything else can be filed.
Confirm who your local sponsor is
Every applicant needs a sponsor in Hong Kong. It can be the institution granting the acceptance, which is usual for universities, or an individual who is 18 or over, a bona fide Hong Kong resident, acquainted with you and able to support and house you.
Build the financial evidence
The guidebook asks that you can meet the course fees and your living and accommodation costs without working and without recourse to public funds. No minimum figure is published. When the institution is the sponsor, you submit proof of your own financial support, such as bank statements, savings passbooks, tax receipts and salary slips.
Submit forms ID 995A and ID 995B
You complete ID 995A and the sponsor completes ID 995B. The application and documents can be submitted online through the GovHK website, or posted to Immigration Headquarters in Tseung Kwan O by you or the sponsor. Documents not in English or Chinese need a certified translation.
Allow six weeks from a complete file
The Immigration Department says it normally takes six weeks to process a study application once all required documents are received, and that it cannot start until the file is complete. It asks applicants not to chase progress unless absolutely necessary.
Pay the fee and download the e-Visa
The approval notice includes a payment link. Non-Mainland applicants pay by credit card, PPS, FPS or certain Mainland e-wallets and then download or print the e-Visa. The fee table lists HK$330 for an ordinary visa or single-entry permit outside the specified talent schemes.
Enter Hong Kong and register for an identity card within 30 days
On arrival you show your passport and the e-Visa, on a phone or printed on A4 paper, and scan its QR code at the counter. If you are permitted to stay more than 180 days, you must register for a Hong Kong identity card within 30 days of arrival. First registration is free, by appointment.
What goes wrong most often?
Applying at the Chinese visa centre
A Hong Kong study application goes to the Hong Kong Immigration Department with a local sponsor. An X1 application at the Chinese visa centre is a different visa for a different place.
An incomplete file
The six weeks start when every document has been received. A missing translation or an unsigned ID 995B is the commonest reason a file sits still.
Untranslated Urdu documents
Anything not in English or Chinese needs a certified translation by a sworn, court, authorised public, certified, expert or official translator. A friend’s translation does not count.
Funds that only work with wages
The test is that you can pay without working. The temporary work exemption does not change the financial test.
A passport that runs out mid-degree
Your stay is limited by your passport’s validity. Renew first if the passport will not cover the programme.
Missing the identity card deadline
Thirty days from arrival goes quickly in the first weeks of term. Book the appointment before you fly.
A realistic example
This is a hypothetical illustration, not a real client. Ayesha is 22, has a BS in computer science from Faisalabad, and has an offer for a one-year taught MSc at a publicly funded Hong Kong university starting in September 2027. Her father, a government school headteacher, and her uncle, who runs a textile business, will pay.
- February 2027. She accepts the offer and asks the university in writing whether it acts as her sponsor, who submits ID 995B, and whether it requires health insurance.
- March. The university confirms it will be her sponsor and asks her to submit online through GovHK. She checks her passport and finds it expires in mid-2028, so it covers the course with room to spare.
- April. Her father gathers six months of bank statements, salary slips and his tax return. Her uncle adds a letter, his own statements, and a short explanation of a deposit from the sale of machinery. She has the family registration certificate and two Urdu documents translated by a certified translator.
- Early May. She submits ID 995A with the documents. The university submits ID 995B.
- Mid-June. The approval notice arrives with a payment link. She pays HK$330 by card and downloads the e-Visa, then books an identity card appointment for her first week.
- Late August. She lands, shows her passport and the printed e-Visa, and scans the QR code. Within a week she registers for her identity card.
Nothing in her file was unusual. It was early, translated, and based on money that was there without any part-time job.
The version that goes wrong
Her classmate Danish is sold a Hong Kong package that includes a self-financed diploma at a college he cannot find on any accreditation list, a promise that he can work full time to pay the fees, and an appointment at the Chinese visa centre in Islamabad. The course may not be an eligible programme, the financial test says the opposite of the promise, and the visa centre handles mainland visas. The guide to checking a visa consultant in Pakistan sets out the questions that would have exposed all three before he paid.
Key takeaways
- Pakistanis need a visa to study in Hong Kong, and Pakistan is not on the list of excluded nationalities in the Immigration Department’s guidebook.
- You complete ID 995A and your local sponsor, usually the university, completes ID 995B. The file goes in online through GovHK or by post.
- Processing normally takes six weeks, counted from the day the last required document arrives.
- The fee for an ordinary visa or single-entry permit rose from HK$230 to HK$330 on 8 September 2025, paid after approval for an e-Visa.
- No funds figure is published. You must be able to pay fees and living costs without working and without public funds.
- If you are permitted to stay more than 180 days, register for a Hong Kong identity card within 30 days of arrival. First registration is free.
- Degree students may work 20 hours a week on campus and freely in summer, and are temporarily exempted from those limits, with no published end date.
- The Hong Kong PhD Fellowship pays HK$344,400 a year plus HK$14,400 for travel in 2026/27, and fresh graduates can apply for 24 months under IANG within six months of graduating.
Frequently asked questions
Do Pakistanis need a visa to study in Hong Kong?
Yes. The Immigration Department’s visa requirements table marks Pakistan as visa required, for any purpose, including transit, with an exception only for diplomatic and official passports. The guidebook for study also says that unless you have the right of abode or right to land in Hong Kong, you need a visa or entry permit to study there.
Who applies for a Hong Kong student visa, me or the university?
Both of you sign something. You complete form ID 995A and your local sponsor completes form ID 995B. For most university students the sponsor is the institution that accepted you. The forms and documents can be submitted online through GovHK, or posted to Immigration Headquarters by you or the sponsor.
How long does a Hong Kong student visa take?
The Immigration Department says it normally takes six weeks once all the required documents have been received, and that processing does not start until the file is complete. A missing translation or an unsigned sponsor form therefore resets the clock rather than slowing it.
How much is the Hong Kong student visa fee?
The Immigration Department’s fee table, updated on 8 April 2026, lists HK$330 for an ordinary visa or single-entry permit in the general category, which rose from HK$230 on 8 September 2025. Student visas are not among the specified talent schemes that carry HK$600 and HK$1,300 fees. You pay after approval, through the link in the result notice.
How much money do I need to show for Hong Kong?
There is no published figure. The guidebook says you must be able to meet the course fees and your living and accommodation costs without working and without recourse to public funds. When the institution is your sponsor, you submit proof such as bank statements, savings passbooks, tax receipts and salary slips.
Can I work part time while studying in Hong Kong?
The standing rule allows full-time students on locally-accredited local programmes at undergraduate level or above, of at least one academic year, to work on campus for up to 20 hours a week and without limit in summer from 1 June to 31 August. The guidebook adds that these students are temporarily exempted from the employment restrictions altogether. No end date for the exemption is published, and exchange students are excluded.
Do I need a Hong Kong identity card as a student?
Yes, if you are permitted to stay more than 180 days. The Immigration Department says new arrivals aged 11 or over must register for an identity card within 30 days of arrival, and that first registration is free. Book the appointment online, through the department’s app or by phone.
Can I take an internship in Hong Kong?
Yes, if it is study-related and endorsed by the designated officers of your institution. For undergraduate and above, the internship can last up to one academic year or a third of the programme, whichever is shorter, with no restriction on pay, hours, location or employer. It cannot start before you have registered and begun classes, or after you have met all the requirements for graduation.
Is a Hong Kong student visa the same as a Chinese X1 visa?
No. Hong Kong runs its own immigration control. You apply to the Hong Kong Immigration Department through a local sponsor and receive an e-Visa. The X1 is issued by the Chinese Embassy for study on the mainland and is followed by a residence permit from the public security bureau. One does not stand in for the other.
Can Pakistanis apply for the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship?
The scheme run by the Research Grants Council is open to students worldwide. For 2026/27 it pays an annual stipend of HK$344,400 and a conference and research-related travel allowance of HK$14,400 a year, for up to three years. The 2027/28 round, with 400 fellowships, accepts applications from 1 September to 1 December 2026, 12 noon Hong Kong time.
What is IANG and how long does it give a graduate?
The Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates. A fresh graduate of a full-time locally-accredited programme at degree level or above who applies within six months of graduation is normally granted 24 months’ stay with no other conditions. Anyone who applies later is treated as a non-recent graduate under a different test.
Can Ch. Bilal Rasheed help me with a Hong Kong application?
Yes, as an ICEF-accredited education consultant and immigration advisor in Pakistan. That covers choosing an eligible programme, understanding who your sponsor is, building the financial evidence, the ID 995A file and the timing of the six-week processing period, the e-Visa and the identity card. The Immigration Department decides, so no one can guarantee a visa. A consultation can be booked in Lahore, on WhatsApp or by phone.
