Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ20: Admission of non-locally trained nurses
Range of monthly salary(5) of the measures put in place by the Government, regarding the recruitment of non-locally trained nurses, to prevent the abuse of the mechanisms for the Technical Professionals Stream under GEP and ASMTP and to ensure that employers in DH, HA and the social welfare sector accord priority to employing locally trained nurses?
Reply:
Note 1: The numbers of applicants and approved applicants are figures as at December 31, 2025 after the passage of the amendments to the NRO in July 2024. Note 2: It refers to applications received with complete information. Note 3: Among the 41 applications for SR, none were rejected, four were withdrawn and five were pending approval. Note 4: Among the 393 applications for LR, four were rejected, 10 were withdrawn and 151 were pending approval. Note 5: Among the 297 applications for LE, two were rejected, 26 were withdrawn and 127 were pending approval. Note 6: Among the 32 applicants approved for SR, one had his/her SR effected only after December 31, 2025, and another one had his/her SR terminated on or before December 31, 2025 upon leaving the service. Note 7: Among the 228 applicants approved for LR, one had his/her LR effected only after December 31, 2025. Note 8: Among the 142 applications approved for LE, one withdrew his/her application, two had their LE effected only after December 31, 2025, and another two had their LE terminated on or before December 31, 2025 upon leaving the service. Note 9: 13 out of the figure above started service after December 31, 2025 due to other reasons (such as pending the issue of visas). Note 10: 19 out of the figure above started service after December 31, 2025due to other reasons (such as pending the issue of visas). Note 11: Include Chinese Mainland, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan region. Amongst which, 141 are nurses under short-term exchange through the Greater Bay Area Healthcare Talents Visiting Programmes. Note 12: The involved country/region of the SR nurse is Malaysia. Note 13: The involved country/region of the LR nurse is Malta.
(3) to (5) The statistics above suggests that non-locally trained nurses contribute to less than one per cent of the overall nursing manpower of over 75 000 nurses, which is extremely low. The Government has since June 30, 2025 introduced a new channel under the General Employment Policy (GEP) and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) to allow young and experienced non-degree mid-level talents with relevant professional and technical qualifications to come to Hong Kong to join eight skilled trades facing acute manpower shortage, including nurses. An applicant must be aged between 18 and 40, and meet the requirements specified for the specific skilled trade on the Technical Professional List, including academic qualifications, work experience and professional skills (such as registration or licence to practice), etc. In addition, according to the prevailing requirements under the GEP and ASMTP, the relevant professionals are required to have secured employment from local employers before application, and the remuneration package should be commensurate with the market level for similar jobs. This new channel will last for three years with an overall application quota of 10 000. The application quota for each skilled trade is limited to 3 000 to prevent occupations with larger industry scales from exhausting the quotas.
Employer For applications from the residential care homes sector, the ImmD does not maintain the statistical breakdown by type of RCHs. The breakdown by monthly remuneration of the approved applications in the residential care homes sector is tabulated below:
Monthly remuneration The HA and the DH will accord priority to employing locally trained nurses, and offer non-locally trained nurses similar remuneration packages as locally trained nurses. The Health Bureau will work with relevant bureaux and departments to encourage other designated institutions under the NRO to similarly accord priority to employing locally trained nurses. The ImmD will follow the established mechanism in examining whether an applicant meets the relevant eligibility criteria, and refer the application to relevant policy bureaux and departments or professional bodies for verification on his/her qualifications where necessary. The ImmD will ensure that only applications meeting the eligibility criteria are 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. Issued at HKT 15:35