Online, Part-Time and Joint Degrees: Do They Count for Hong Kong Talent Visas in 2026?

For the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS), the mode of study decides the answer before anything else does. Bachelor’s degrees obtained through online or distance learning, evening study, self-taught study or part-time study at an eligible university do not qualify for Category B or Category C, even when the university itself appears on the aggregate list of eligible universities. Joint degrees follow a different test: they can qualify, but only if every awarding institution behind the degree is itself an eligible university. These are the rules set out on the Immigration Department’s “Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS)” Frequently Asked Questions page, as of October 2026.

Does the mode-of-study exclusion cover Category A as well?

No. Category A is built on income, not on a degree. It covers persons with annual income of HK$2.5 million or above, or its equivalent in foreign currency, in the year immediately preceding the application, where annual income means taxable employment or business income including salary, allowances, stock options and profits from self-owned companies. Investment income is excluded. A degree is not part of this test, so the way you studied is irrelevant there.

Categories B and C are the degree-dependent routes. Category B requires degree graduates of eligible universities with at least three years of work experience accumulated over the past five years before the application date. Category C covers graduates of eligible universities within the past five years with less than three years of work experience, and it is subject to an annual quota allotted on a first-come, first-served basis; however, Category C does not apply to non-local students who obtained their undergraduate qualification in a full-time and locally-accredited programme in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The published FAQ states that the current annual quota for Category C is 10 000.

How is “online, distance, evening, self-taught or part-time” actually applied?

The FAQ groups those five modes together in a single answer and states that holders of such bachelor’s degrees from eligible universities are not eligible for Category B or C. No exception is carved out inside the group, so a part-time route is treated the same way as a fully remote one in the published wording. What the rule turns on is how the programme was delivered and registered, not on the prestige of the university named on the certificate.

Two related limits sit next to it. The qualification must be at a level equivalent to the recognised Hong Kong standard of a bachelor’s degree, and honorary bachelor’s degrees are not accepted. A master’s or doctoral degree from an eligible university does not substitute for the bachelor’s requirement: if you want Category B or C, the bachelor’s degree itself has to come from an eligible university.

What is the test for joint and dual-award programmes?

Joint programmes are eligible in principle. The rule is that all the relevant awarding institutions or universities must be among the eligible universities, and the applicant must also meet the other criteria of the category.

Suppose an applicant holds a bachelor’s degree awarded jointly by two institutions, where one appears on the aggregate list and the other does not. Under the stated rule, the application fails on the degree criterion, because the test is applied to every awarding institution rather than to the highest-ranked one. The same “all awarding institutions” rule appears in the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS) FAQ for master’s or doctoral degrees, where it is applied to the QMAS list of eligible universities.

Does being on the list cover every part of the university?

No. The aggregate list is compiled by the Labour and Welfare Bureau, and being on it does not extend to every teaching unit carrying the university’s name. Qualifications obtained from the continuing and professional education arms, branch schools, extension schools or subsidiary schools established by eligible universities are not accepted.

The TTPS list is built from the top 100 universities in four world university rankings over the past five years (Times Higher Education World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, U.S. News and World Report’s Best Global Universities Rankings and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities), plus the top five hospitality and leisure management institutions on QS, the top 20 Mainland universities under the Shanghai Jiao Tong Best Chinese Universities Ranking, and the top five art and design institutions on QS. The QMAS list is broader for postgraduate study: it takes the TTPS eligible universities and adds the top 10 institutions in the QS Global MBA Rankings and the Financial Times Business School Rankings in MBA that provide only postgraduate programmes over the past five years. Both lists are republished, so the version in force when you apply is the one that matters.

Does QMAS treat online and part-time study the same way?

Careful here: the published QMAS FAQ does not contain a provision mirroring the TTPS wording on online, distance, evening, self-taught or part-time study. What it does set out is different. The basic prerequisite is a good educational background, normally a first degree from a recognised university or tertiary education institution, with good technical qualifications, proven professional abilities, and documented experience and achievements potentially considered under special circumstances.

The separate “Academic Qualifications” criterion of the General Points Test requires a master’s or doctoral degree awarded by an eligible university on the QMAS list, at a level equivalent to the recognised Hong Kong standard, with a bachelor’s degree alone not sufficient for that criterion. Honorary master’s or doctoral degrees are excluded, as are degrees not awarded by nationally accredited or licensed institutions. The General Points Test has 12 criteria across age, academic qualifications, language proficiency, work experience, annual income and business ownership, and the prevailing passing threshold is 6 out of 12, which the page notes may change from time to time without prior notice.

	TTPS Category B / C	QMAS academic-qualification criterion
Qualification relied on	Bachelor’s degree	Master’s or doctoral degree
Awarding institution test	University on the TTPS aggregate list	University on the QMAS aggregate list
Mode of study	Online, distance, evening, self-taught or part-time degrees not eligible	Not addressed in the published QMAS FAQ
Joint programmes	All awarding institutions must be eligible universities	All awarding institutions must be eligible universities
Level required	Equivalent to recognised Hong Kong bachelor’s standard	Equivalent to recognised Hong Kong master’s or doctoral standard
Explicitly excluded	Honorary bachelor’s degrees; continuing education, branch, extension and subsidiary schools	Honorary degrees; degrees not awarded by nationally accredited or licensed institutions; the same school-type exclusions

What should you check before filing an application?

Read the awarding institution name printed on your degree certificate. Then check that exact name against the current aggregate list for the scheme you are using. For a joint programme, repeat the check for every institution named as an awarding body. Confirm that your school was not a continuing education, branch, extension or subsidiary arm. Confirm that you already hold proof of graduation, because an application cannot be processed without it. Arrange verification proof of your academic qualification from a third-party credential verification organisation or from the awarding institution.

Both schemes require that verification proof, and the Immigration Department publishes a “List of Third-party Credential Verification Organisations” for this purpose. Applicants must also provide the information the department needs to conduct online authentication on the relevant platforms.

This article describes published scheme rules for general reference and is not personalised advice; lists, thresholds and quota arrangements change, so the wording in force on the official pages governs your case.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an online bachelor’s degree from a top-100 university accepted for TTPS Category B?

No. The Immigration Department’s TTPS FAQ states that persons holding a bachelor’s degree awarded by online or distance learning from an eligible university are not eligible for Category B or C. The university’s ranking position does not override the mode-of-study rule.

My degree was awarded jointly by one listed and one unlisted university. Can I apply?

No, not on that degree. For joint programmes, every relevant awarding institution must be among the eligible universities. One listed institution is not enough to carry a co-awarding institution that is absent from the list.

Does a part-time master’s degree earn the QMAS academic-qualification points?

The published QMAS FAQ does not state a mode-of-study exclusion of the kind used in the TTPS rules. What it requires is a master’s or doctoral degree from an institution on the QMAS aggregate list, at the recognised Hong Kong standard, and it excludes degrees not awarded by nationally accredited or licensed institutions.

Does graduating from a university’s continuing education or extension school count?

No. Qualifications obtained from the continuing and professional education arms, branch schools, extension schools or subsidiary schools established by eligible universities are not accepted, even when the parent university appears on the aggregate list.

Can I apply before my graduation certificate is issued?

No. An application cannot be processed if the applicant cannot provide proof of graduation, and the same position applies to the QMAS academic-qualification criterion. Applications should be submitted after certificates or proof of graduation have been obtained.

Which scheme should a bachelor’s-only graduate look at?

For TTPS, a bachelor’s degree is the required qualification for Categories B and C, and a master’s or doctoral degree alone does not qualify. For QMAS, a bachelor’s degree can satisfy the basic educational prerequisite but does not by itself meet the academic-qualification criterion of the General Points Test, which looks for a master’s or doctoral degree.

References

• Immigration Department — Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) Frequently Asked Questions
• Immigration Department — Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS) Frequently Asked Questions