IANG Visa: Working in Hong Kong After Graduation

What IANG is for

The Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG) scheme lets international graduates of Hong Kong universities stay and work in the city after finishing their degree, without going through the general employment visa route. It is run by the Hong Kong Immigration Department and is the main pathway ASEAN graduates use to start a career in Hong Kong straight after graduation.

You qualify if you completed a full-time, locally-accredited undergraduate degree or higher at a Hong Kong institution. The scheme also covers graduates of Greater Bay Area campuses run by Hong Kong universities, so a degree completed at a mainland China satellite campus of a Hong Kong university can still qualify.

Two application windows, two sets of rules

Timing changes what you need to apply. If you apply within 6 months of graduating, you do not need a job offer. Immigration grants you 24 months' stay on time limitation only, with no other conditions, so you can job hunt in Hong Kong on the visa itself rather than needing an offer in hand before you arrive.

If you wait past 6 months, the rules tighten: a returning graduate applying for IANG after the 6-month window must already have a confirmed job offer to qualify. This makes the first 6 months after graduation the easiest time to apply, even if you plan to keep job hunting rather than start work immediately.

What you can do on an IANG visa

Once granted, you take up and change employment freely during your 24-month stay without seeking prior approval from the Director of Immigration for each new job. This differs from most employment visas elsewhere, which tie your status to one employer. IANG's general "time limitation only" condition does not restrict you to a specific employer or role, which also gives room to start a business or freelance.

Applications with all required documents and the application fee paid typically take about two weeks to process, according to the Immigration Department. Apply online through the GovHK IANG portal , uploading your graduation certificate, transcript and passport details.

Renewing and building toward permanent residency

IANG stay is renewable as long as you remain employed or self-employed in Hong Kong. Continuous ordinary residence in Hong Kong, which includes time on IANG, counts toward the 7 years needed to apply for permanent resident status. For an ASEAN graduate planning a longer career in Hong Kong, IANG bridges finishing a degree and qualifying for permanent residency, since you do not need to switch to a different visa category to keep accumulating residency time.

Dependants, spouses and unmarried children under 18, apply alongside you, and the same online application system handles dependant applications together with the main IANG application.

If your 24 months run out before you find work

You need employment, self-employment or a further course of study to extend your stay beyond the initial 24 months. If your 24 months expire without work, you generally need to leave Hong Kong rather than getting an automatic extension. Because of this, most ASEAN graduates use the early months after graduation to job search actively rather than travel or take a long break, since the visa clock keeps running regardless of whether you are working.

Why ASEAN graduates use IANG over other Hong Kong work visas

The alternative route into Hong Kong employment, the General Employment Policy, requires an employer sponsor and proof that no local candidate can fill the role before you even apply. IANG skips that requirement entirely for fresh graduates, which is why most ASEAN students who complete a degree in Hong Kong and want to stay use IANG rather than the general employment channel. If you already have a job offer by graduation, you can still use IANG under the "with job offer" route rather than the general employment visa, since IANG's application process and fee are usually faster.

Which institutions count

IANG eligibility is not limited to the eight UGC-funded universities. Graduates of Hong Kong's government-approved self-financing degree-awarding institutions also qualify, as long as the program was full-time and locally accredited. If you are choosing a program partly with a Hong Kong career in mind, confirm your target institution and program sit on the Immigration Department's accepted list before you enroll, since a degree from an unaccredited or non-local program will not qualify you for IANG even if the institution operates a campus in Hong Kong.