Following is a question by the Hon Lam Chun-sing and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (June 17):
 
Question:
 
     The Government has introduced the Technical Professionals (TP) Stream under the General Employment Policy (GEP) and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) with effect from June 30, 2025, allowing eligible non-degree professionals to apply for entry into Hong Kong to engage in eight specific skilled trades. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective numbers of applications received, approved and refused, to date, in respect of new industrialisation technicians under the TP Stream of the GEP and the ASMTP, with a breakdown by the scope of work involved as declared (i.e. smart/automated manufacturing and robotics engineering, mechanical engineering/mechatronics engineering, biomedical engineering and microelectronics engineering); among the aforesaid approved applications, the distribution of the applicants by age and monthly remuneration; 

(2) of the number of persons who have, to date, been permitted to come to Hong Kong as dependants under the TP Stream of the two aforesaid schemes, with a breakdown by category (i.e. the technical professional's spouse or unmarried dependent child(ren) under the age of 18); 

(3) of the distribution, by region or country of origin, of technical professionals admitted to Hong Kong under GEP, with a breakdown by skilled trade; 

(4) of the numbers of cases hitherto received by the Immigration Department in relation to technical professionals applying for a change of employment, and those leaving Hong Kong following the early termination of employment contracts with employers since the launch of the TP Stream under the two aforesaid schemes, with a breakdown by skilled trade; and 

(5) whether the authorities will consider correspondingly lowering the quota ceiling for individual trades with relatively lower numbers of admitted technical professionals; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     As Hong Kong is facing an ageing workforce and a lack of new entrants, some skilled trades needed to sustain Hong Kong's city operation are also facing acute talent succession gaps. To address these challenges, in addition to continuing to strengthen the training for the local workforce, the Government has also introduced a new channel under the General Employment Policy (GEP) and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (New Arrangement) from June 30, 2025, to allow non-degree mid-level professionals aged under 40 with qualifications and experience as specified in the Technical Professional List to apply to come to Hong Kong to undertake designated jobs, and attract them to settle in Hong Kong in the long run. The New Arrangement covers eight specified skilled trades facing acute manpower shortage, including new industrialisation technicians, nurses, aircraft maintenance technicians, marine services technicians (for local vessels), information technology technicians, lift/escalator technicians, building information modeling coordinators and electrical technicians.
 
     In consultation with the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, Transport and Logistics Bureau, and the Immigration Department (ImmD), the reply to the Member's question is as follows:

(1) As at end-May 2026, the number of applications received, approved and refused for each scope of work under the skilled trade of new industrialisation technician, as well as the breakdown on the number of approved applications by age and monthly remuneration of the applicants are set out in Annex 1.

(2) As at end-May 2026, among the technical professionals approved under the New Arrangement, a total of 138 applications for dependant visa/entry permit were approved. The breakdown on the number of approved applications by the relationship between the dependant and the principal applicant is set out in Annex 2.

(3) As at end-May 2026, a total of 296 applications under the GEP (Technical Professionals Stream) were approved, all of which are aircraft maintenance technicians. The breakdown on the number of approved applications by the applicant's region is set out in Annex 3.

(4) Under the New Arrangement, a technical professional can only work in the same skilled trade during his/her stay in Hong Kong as approved by the Director of Immigration (the Director) on first arrival in Hong Kong. Without the Director's consent, the technical professional is not allowed to change employer or switch to other jobs. This is to ensure that the admission of the relevant professionals is in line with the policy objective of replenishing the manpower shortage of specified skilled trades in Hong Kong. If the technical professional wishes to switch to other skilled trades under the New Arrangement, he/she has to re-apply for the visa/entry permit to come to Hong Kong. 

     If the ImmD is notified by an employer of pre-mature termination of an employment contract, the technical professional concerned, if not engaged by another employer in the same skilled trade, shall leave Hong Kong within two months from the termination date of his/her employment contract, or before the expiry of the current limit of stay (whichever is earlier).
 
     The ImmD does not maintain the statistics mentioned in the question.

(5) The New Arrangement is on pilot for three years with an overall quota of 10 000, and the quota for each skilled trade is limited to 3 000 to prevent skilled trades in more sizable industry scale from taking up the vast majority of the quota. Up to end-May this year since the opening of applications, a total of 980 applications were received by the ImmD, with 783 approved. The Government has been closely monitoring the implementation of the New Arrangement and plans to conduct a review after the first year of implementation. The relevant bureaux have been in close liaison with industry stakeholders to follow up the implementation of the New Arrangement and stay abreast of the latest developments and manpower needs of the industries.

Ends/Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:55

NNNN