Creation

With the aim of attracting talented people from mainland China and the rest of the world to settle and work in Hong Kong, the QMAS set up admissions criteria under which applicants could be admitted to residence in Hong Kong without the prior offer of local employment required for a normal working visa. The scheme was first announced in February 2006.^[9] It began accepting applications on 28 June of that year, with a quota of 1,000 applicants. The scheme included two methods of assessment: a general points test, under which applicants would be awarded points based on their education, age, working experience, language abilities, and family background, and an achievement-based test for people such as Olympic medalists, Nobel laureates, or scientists and professionals with significant recognition in their field.^[10] The minimum passing mark under the general points test is 80 points.^[11]

Six people applied in the first week; however, the government waited until November 2006 to issue the first visa under the scheme, to pianist Lang Lang.^[12][13] In 2007, 582 people applied under the scheme, of whom 322 (55.3%) were admitted, 42 through the achievement-based points test and 280 through the general points test.^[14][15] 188 came from mainland China.^[16]

Relaxation of criteria

As early as November 2007, the government floated the idea of loosening the criteria for admission under the QMAS, due to the underwhelming response.^[1] Details of the amendments were announced in January 2008; the age limit for applicants was raised from 50 to 55, points would be awarded for as little as two years of working experience as opposed to five before the amendment, and applicants could receive points for abilities in languages other than Chinese or English.^[2][14]

Following the amendment, the number of applicants under the scheme increased slightly; however, the passing rate dropped, according to government sources, with only 60% of short-listed applications approved as of February 2008, compared to 71% before the revision.^[17] By the end of May that year, the number of people admitted under the scheme drew near to 500; however, this still formed only a minute proportion of the roughly 210,000 non-local professionals working in Hong Kong.^[18] For 2008, 1,317 people applied for admission under the scheme, an increase of 130% over the 2007 figure.^[15]

In total, from June 2006 to August 2013, 9,932 people applied to settle in Hong Kong under QMAS, among whom 2,553 (26%) were accepted. The acceptance rate fell sharply from a peak of 41% in 2008 to 15% in 2012, which was the highest year to date for the number of applications received. Of the successful applicants, 1,997 (78%) were from mainland China, 291 (11%) were from other parts of the Asia-Pacific region, 163 (6.4%) were from North America, 94 (3.7%) were from Europe, and 8 (0.3%) were from South America or Africa.^[19]

In November 2020, the quota per year was increased from 1,000 to 2,000.^[20] In November 2021, the quota was further increased from 2,000 to 4,000 per year.^[21] In October 2022, John Lee removed the limit of 4,000 for a period of 2 years.^[22]

In October 2023, the government said it would now allow people from Vietnam, Laos and Nepal to apply for the visa.^[23]

Statistics

In May 2020, statistics from the 2019 year were provided by the immigration department.^[24] In 2019, a total of 874 people were approved under the scheme. Of the 874,

• 845 were approved under the General Points Test, and the other 29 were approved under the Achievement-based Test
• 565 were male, and 309 were female
• 647 were aged between 18–39, 140 were aged between 40–44, 66 were aged between 45–50, and 21 were aged between 50 or above
• 803 were from mainland China, 18 were from the United States, 14 were from Canada, 8 were from Australia, and 31 were from elsewhere

In 2022, 2,845 people were approved under the program, and from the first to the third halves of 2023, 12479 people were approved, with 98.5% coming from mainland China.^[25][4]