Top Talent Pass Scheme university list 2026: 200 universities

Hong Kong's Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) aggregate list of eligible universities, published December 2025, has 200 universities and institutions in 32 countries and territories, 5 of them newly added, and 4 removed from 1 January 2026 (Immigration Department of Hong Kong, PDF list, read on 5 November 2026).

Top Talent Pass SchemeList of December 2025

Eligible universities and institutions: 200

5newly added (*)

4removed from 1 January 2026

55in the United States

23in the Chinese Mainland

Source: Aggregate List of Eligible Universities; read on 5 November 2026.

Not immigration or legal advice. These are the official lists and rules on the date we read them. Being on a list does not mean a visa will be granted: each authority checks your degree, the dates and its other requirements, and can change the rules. Check the official page before you apply or pay.

The list is compiled by the Labour and Welfare Bureau: the Immigration Department says it is based on “the top 100 universities/institutions in four designated world university rankings” in the past five years, plus the top hotel, art and design schools and the top 20 Mainland universities. “the branch schools, the extension schools or the subsidiary schools, etc., established by the eligible universities will not be accepted”.

All 200 universities, in the order of the official list

Filter universities

TTPS aggregate list of eligible universities

Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)	Argentina	No	No
University of Melbourne	Australia	Yes	Yes
University of Sydney	Australia	Yes	Yes
The University of Queensland	Australia	Yes	Yes
Monash University	Australia	Yes	Yes
Australian National University	Australia	Yes	Yes
University of New South Wales	Australia	Yes	Yes
The University of Western Australia	Australia	No	No
University of Adelaide	Australia	No	No
University of Technology Sydney	Australia	No	No
Adelaide University *	Australia	No	No
University of Vienna *	Austria	No	No
KU Leuven	Belgium	Yes	Yes
Ghent University	Belgium	No	No
University of São Paulo	Brazil	No	No
University of Toronto	Canada	Yes	Yes
University of British Columbia	Canada	Yes	Yes
McGill University	Canada	Yes	Yes
McMaster University	Canada	No	No
University of Montreal	Canada	No	No
University of Alberta	Canada	No	No
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile	Chile	No	No
Tsinghua University	Chinese Mainland	Yes	Yes
Peking University	Chinese Mainland	Yes	Yes
Fudan University	Chinese Mainland	Yes	Yes
Zhejiang University	Chinese Mainland	Yes	Yes
Shanghai Jiao Tong University	Chinese Mainland	Yes	Yes
University of Science and Technology of China	Chinese Mainland	Yes	Yes
Sun Yat-sen University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Nanjing University	Chinese Mainland	Yes	Yes
Huazhong University of Science and Technology	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Wuhan University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Xi'an Jiaotong University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Harbin Institute of Technology	Chinese Mainland	Yes	Yes
Central South University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Sichuan University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Beihang University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Southeast University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Beijing Institute of Technology	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Tongji University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Renmin University of China	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Beijing Normal University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Nankai University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
Tianjin University	Chinese Mainland	No	No
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences	Chinese Mainland	No	No
University of Copenhagen	Denmark	Yes	Yes
Technical University of Denmark	Denmark	No	No
Aarhus University	Denmark	Yes	Yes
University of Helsinki	Finland	No	No
Sorbonne University	France	Yes	Yes
Université Paris Cité (formerly Université de Paris)	France	No	No
Université Paris-Saclay	France	Yes	Yes
Université PSL	France	Yes	Yes
Institut Polytechnique de Paris	France	Yes	Yes
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München	Germany	Yes	Yes
Heidelberg University	Germany	Yes	Yes
Technical University of Munich	Germany	Yes	Yes
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin	Germany	No	No
Freie Universität Berlin	Germany	No	No
RWTH Aachen University	Germany	No	No
University of Tübingen	Germany	No	No
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin	Germany	No	No
University of Bonn	Germany	Yes	Yes
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) *	Germany	No	No
University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong SAR	Yes	Yes
Chinese University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong SAR	Yes	Yes
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong SAR	Yes	Yes
City University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong SAR	Yes	Yes
Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Hong Kong SAR	Yes	Yes
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin	Ireland	No	No
Weizmann Institute of Science	Israel	No	No
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology	Israel	No	No
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem	Israel	No	No
Politecnico di Milano *	Italy	No	No
The University of Tokyo	Japan	Yes	Yes
Kyoto University	Japan	Yes	Yes
Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech)	Japan	No	No
Osaka University	Japan	No	No
Tohoku University	Japan	No	No
Nagoya University	Japan	No	No
Universiti Malaya (UM)	Malaysia	No	No
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)	Mexico	No	No
University of Amsterdam	Netherlands	Yes	Yes
Utrecht University	Netherlands	No	No
Erasmus University Rotterdam	Netherlands	No	No
Wageningen University & Research	Netherlands	No	No
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam	Netherlands	No	No
Leiden University	Netherlands	No	No
University of Groningen	Netherlands	Yes	Yes
Delft University of Technology	Netherlands	Yes	Yes
Hotelschool The Hague	Netherlands	No	No
The University of Auckland	New Zealand	No	No
University of Oslo	Norway	No	No
Lomonosov Moscow State University	Russia	No	No
King Abdulaziz University	Saudi Arabia	No	No
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology	Saudi Arabia	No	No
King Saud University	Saudi Arabia	No	No
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals *	Saudi Arabia	No	No
National University of Singapore	Singapore	Yes	Yes
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore	Singapore	Yes	Yes
Seoul National University	South Korea	Yes	Yes
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)	South Korea	Yes	Yes
Korea University	South Korea	No	No
Yonsei University	South Korea	Yes	Yes
Pohang University of Science And Technology (POSTECH)	South Korea	No	No
Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)	South Korea	No	No
University of Barcelona	Spain	No	No
Karolinska Institute	Sweden	Yes	Yes
Lund University	Sweden	No	No
KTH Royal Institute of Technology	Sweden	No	No
Uppsala University	Sweden	Yes	Yes
Stockholm University	Sweden	No	No
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology	Switzerland	Yes	Yes
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Switzerland	Yes	Yes
University of Zurich	Switzerland	Yes	Yes
University of Geneva	Switzerland	No	No
University of Basel	Switzerland	No	No
University of Bern	Switzerland	No	No
EHL Hospitality Business School	Switzerland	No	No
Swiss Hotel Management School	Switzerland	No	No
Les Roches Global Hospitality Management Education	Switzerland	No	No
Glion Institute of Higher Education	Switzerland	No	No
Cesar Ritz Colleges Switzerland	Switzerland	No	No
National Taiwan University (NTU)	Taiwan	No	No
University of Oxford	U.K.	No	Yes
University of Cambridge	U.K.	No	Yes
Imperial College London	U.K.	No	Yes
University College London	U.K.	No	Yes
University of Edinburgh	U.K.	No	Yes
King’s College London	U.K.	No	Yes
University of Manchester	U.K.	No	Yes
University of Bristol	U.K.	No	Yes
University of Southampton	U.K.	No	No
University of Glasgow	U.K.	No	Yes
University of Birmingham	U.K.	No	Yes
London School of Economics and Political Science	U.K.	No	Yes
University of Warwick	U.K.	No	No
Durham University	U.K.	No	No
University of St Andrews	U.K.	No	No
University of Leeds	U.K.	No	No
The University of Sheffield	U.K.	No	No
University of Nottingham	U.K.	No	No
Queen Mary University of London	U.K.	No	No
Royal College of Art	U.K.	No	No
University of the Arts London	U.K.	No	No
Harvard University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Stanford University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of California, Berkeley	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
California Institute of Technology	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Columbia University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Princeton University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of Washington	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Yale University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Johns Hopkins University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of California, Los Angeles	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
The University of Chicago	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of California, San Francisco	U.S.A.	No	No
University of Pennsylvania	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of California, San Diego	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Duke University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Cornell University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Northwestern University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
New York University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Washington University in St. Louis	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of Wisconsin-Madison	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of Texas at Austin	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of California, Santa Barbara	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of Pittsburgh	U.S.A.	No	No
University of Colorado--Boulder	U.S.A.	No	No
Ohio State University--Columbus	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Boston University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of Maryland, College Park	U.S.A.	No	No
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of California, Santa Cruz	U.S.A.	No	No
University of California, Davis	U.S.A.	No	No
University of Southern California	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Rockefeller University	U.S.A.	No	No
Georgia Institute of Technology	U.S.A.	No	No
Pennsylvania State University	U.S.A.	No	No
Emory University	U.S.A.	No	No
Vanderbilt University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai	U.S.A.	No	No
Carnegie Mellon University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of Arizona	U.S.A.	No	No
Michigan State University	U.S.A.	No	No
Brown University	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of California, Irvine	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of Minnesota--Twin Cities	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
University of Florida	U.S.A.	No	No
Rice University	U.S.A.	No	No
Purdue University - West Lafayette	U.S.A.	Yes	Yes
Dartmouth College	U.S.A.	No	No
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas	U.S.A.	No	No
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center	U.S.A.	No	No
Parsons School of Design, the New School	U.S.A.	No	No
Rhode Island School of Design	U.S.A.	No	No
University of Massachusetts	U.S.A.	No	No

Hong Kong lists both the University of Adelaide and the new Adelaide University, as written in the PDF.

* “*denotes the universities newly added to the list.” The official list also gives the Chinese names of the universities in Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and Taiwan.

Removed from the list

“Remarks: Ecole Polytechnique, Université Grenoble Alpes, Universite Sorbonne Paris Cite-USPC and University of Freiburg are removed from the list.” “From 1 January 2026, bachelor degree graduates from these four universities/institutions will no longer be eligible for applications under Categories B and C of the TTPS.”

Source: Aggregate List of Eligible Universities; Top Talent Pass Scheme; New Fee Structure for Visa Applications under Specified Schemes; read on 5 November 2026.

Categories and rules

Category A: annual income “reaching HK$2.5 million or above” in the year before the application; stay of 36 months.
Category B: degree graduates of the eligible universities “with at least three years of work experience” over the past five years: no limit on the year of the degree, the five years apply to the work experience; stay of 24 months.
Category C: degree graduates of the eligible universities in the past five years “with less than three years of work experience”, “subject to an annual quota which is to be allotted on a first-come, first-served basis (Category C)”. “Category C does not apply to those non-local students” (who studied a full-time locally-accredited bachelor's programme in Hong Kong).
“Graduation in the past five years is counted by “year of graduation”.” The degree “must be equivalent to the recognised Hong Kong standard of bachelor’s degrees”. “Applicants are required to submit verification proof issued by a third-party credential verification organisation or the awarding institution”.
No job offer is needed: applicants “are not required to have secured an offer of employment in the HKSAR upon application”. “The TTPS does not apply to nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba and Korea (Democratic People's Republic of).”
Fees: HK$600 application fee and HK$1,300 visa issuance fee for a stay of more than 180 days, for each applicant and dependant. “It normally takes four weeks to process visa/entry permit applications under the TTPS”.

Source: Top Talent Pass Scheme; New Fee Structure for Visa Applications under Specified Schemes; read on 5 November 2026.

Questions people ask

How many universities are on the Top Talent Pass Scheme list?

200 universities and institutions in 32 countries and territories, including 5 newly added: Adelaide University, University of Vienna, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Politecnico di Milano, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. 4 were removed: Ecole Polytechnique, Université Grenoble Alpes, Universite Sorbonne Paris Cite-USPC, University of Freiburg.

What are the Top Talent Pass Scheme requirements?

Category A: annual income of HK$2.5 million or more in the year before applying. Category B: a bachelor's degree from a listed university (no limit on the year of the degree) and at least three years of work experience in the past five years. Category C: a degree from a listed university in the past five years with less than three years of work experience, subject to an annual quota. No job offer is needed (Immigration Department, read on 5 November 2026).

Who is eligible for TTPS Category C?

Graduates of a listed university in the past five years with less than three years of work experience; the Immigration Department counts the five years by year of graduation, and Category C does not apply to non-local students who got their bachelor's degree from a full-time locally-accredited programme in Hong Kong. There is an annual quota.

How much does the TTPS visa cost?

HK$600 application fee (not refundable) and, if approved, HK$1,300 visa issuance fee for a stay of more than 180 days, for the main applicant and for each dependant (fees from 26 February 2025, Immigration Department).

Other lists

HPI list 2026: 82 universities HPI list 2025: 80 universities HPI list 2024: 79 universities HPI list 2023: 80 universities HPI list 2022: 79 universities HPI list 2021: 80 universities J-Find list: 93 universities

Compare the HPI, TTPS and J-Find visas