National Immigration Administration announces new criteria to take effect Wednesday and replace current points-based system
1-MIN READ1-MIN ListenLeopold ChenPublished: 4:24pm, 30 Jun 2026Updated: 4:29pm, 30 Jun 2026Mainland Chinese immigration authorities are standardising their assessment regime for approving residents to settle in Hong Kong and Macau by replacing the previous points-based system with unified criteria, offering applicants more certainty.
The National Immigration Administration announced the new criteria on Tuesday and said it would take effect the following day.
The current system calculates points based on factors such as how old an applicant is, the age of their parents or how many days they are separated from a partner already living in Hong Kong or Macau.
Cut-off levels for the points-based system would be published every six months, but the calculation method was not disclosed.
Successful applicants would be granted one-way permits for settling in their jurisdiction of choice.
The new system is more standardised and has unified conditions, such as reuniting mainland residents whose spouses have settled in Hong Kong or Macau but have been separated for more than three years.
Under the point-based system, the threshold has been maintained at 1,096 days since the first half of 2024, which is consistent with the new standards.
