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Hong Kong Country Profile

Passport
For more details visit Hong Kong Passport Ranking
  • Passport Grade
    A-
  • Passport Ranking
    43/198
  • Passport Score
    171.7/198
  • Visa-free Countries
    150
  • Visa-required Countries
    48
  • Access to the World's GDP
    67%
  • Access to the World's Surface Area
    76%
  • Access to the World's Population
    61%
  • Access to the Unesco Sites
    86%
Citizenship and Naturalization
Birthright citizenship (Jus Soli)
  • Birthright citizenship (Jus Soli)
    No
    No provisions
Naturalization - Standard Conditions
  • Minimum residency period
    7 years
    After 7 years of residency, you can claim permanent residency, not citizenship.
  • Physical presence requirement
    N/A
  • Language test
    N/A
  • Need to renounce original citizenship?
    N/A
  • Can minor children naturalize?
    N/A
  • Can naturalized parents pass citizenship to a child born abroad?
    N/A
  • Can you lose naturalization due to prolonged absence/ naturalization elsewhere?
    –
Naturalization - Your Spouse is a Citizen
  • Living IN the country: Residency/marriage requirement
    No provisions
  • Living ABROAD: Marriage requirement
    No provisions
  • Language test
    No provisions
  • Need to renounce original citizenship?
    No provisions
Naturalization - Other Beneficial Provisions
  • Your child is a citizen
    No provisions
  • Citizens of specific countries
    No provisions
"–": The provision has not been analysed.
Taxation
For more details visit Cost of Living
  • Taxation Type
    Territorial
A tax resident of a country with a TERRITORIAL tax system pays taxes on the income generated within the country only. Income generated outside of the country remains tax-free.
Schiff Sovereign's Take on Hong Kong
Many of Sovereign Man’s team members (including our founder Simon Black himself) fell in love with Hong Kong the first time they went there. 

It's an incredible place, and a very unique city. It’s wealthy and sophisticated. It has been doing things “right” for a long, long time.

Hong Kong has been a phenomenal “offshore” jurisdiction that’s considered more “onshore” than “offshore”. In other words, while it might not be a zero-tax jurisdiction, it is low-tax enough to satisfy both the tax police and those trying to do business without being fleeced by the tax man.

We consider it a great gateway to the rest of Asia, and one with Anglo flair, to boot.

For a long time, we also liked the local currency – the Hong Kong dollar, which has been pegged to the US dollar since 1983. 

Its fundamentals were (and still are) much more solid than those of the greenback. HKD used to serve as a great alternative to holding your savings in USD, as it could potentially be decoupled from the dollar… and appreciate in case the USD suddenly tanked under the weight of its own problems.

We used to talk a lot about the Hong Kong banking system, also. (Hong Kong is still much better capitalized than most Western banking systems.)

However, many of the benefits described above are in question now.

China's assault on the remnants of Hong Kong’s independence makes us uncomfortable when dealing with the jurisdiction. It's hard to predict whether Hong Kong will continue enjoying its financial quasi-independence, or whether it will lose its remaining sovereignty overnight.

Also, more recently, Hong Kong’s severe Covid-related restrictions have scared away many freedom-minded individuals.

On a side note, Hong Kong continues to be home to a very developed equities market. Tim Staermose – Sovereign Man’s Chief Investment Officer – used to live in Hong Kong and is very familiar with it. 

In fact, many of the stock picks in the 4th Pillar investment letter are listed in Hong Kong.

Bottomline: We can’t really recommend Hong Kong anymore, as new restrictions by China, the tumultuous years of protests and Covid restrictions have taken a toll on this Asian financial hub.
Schiff Sovereign's Rolodex
Service Providers available in Hong Kong
  • Immigration (residency, citizenship)
Obtain access to our Rolodex by signing up for Sovereign Confidential Join Sovereign Confidential Today

Sovereign Global Explorer

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Hong Kong Overview
  • Region
    Asia
  • Capital City
    Hong Kong
  • Largest City
    Hong Kong
  • Currency
    Hong Kong dollar
  • Languages
    Cantonese, English
  • Population
    7.4 million (103rd)
  • Life Expectancy
    83.6 years (8th)
  • GDP (Nominal)
    $368.4 billion (43rd)
  • GDP/Capita
    49759.29003 (23rd)
Useful Data
For more details visit Cost of Living
  • Cost of Living
    Extreme (7/7)
  • Climate
    Comfortable (2/5)
  • Safety
    The Safest (1/7)
  • Pollution
    Polluted (4/5)
  • English Proficiency
    Moderate (3/5)

Sovereign Global Explorer

Benefiting from over a decade of our team’s boots-on-the-ground experience, Global Explorer is where your international journey begins.
Explore Now
Found a mistake /
Have a suggestion ?
Please let us know if you spot any inaccuracies on this page or have a suggestion on how to make it even more useful.
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PREMIUM REPORTS
Hong Kong inside Schiff Sovereign resources
Resource TitleProductTypeDate
March 2024 SC Q&ASovereign ConfidentialSMCQ&A27-Mar-2403/27/24
January 2024 SC Q&ASovereign ConfidentialSMCQ&A30-Jan-2401/30/24
These 10 countries offer university graduates residency and a Plan BSovereign ConfidentialSMCAlert12-Aug-2108/12/21
An update on Hong Kong and the banking systemSovereign ConfidentialSMCAlert04-Sep-1909/04/19
November 2018 Q&ASovereign ConfidentialSMCQ&A30-Nov-1811/30/18
New risks for the HKD and what you should do nowSovereign ConfidentialSMCMonthly Letter15-Nov-1811/15/18
Hong Kong Dollar: A no-brainer hedge to protect your savingsSovereign ConfidentialSMCMonthly Letter16-Jul-1807/16/18
Sovereign Man Country Rankings: The Right Country for YOU, with Simon's insightsSovereign ConfidentialSMCBlack Paper06-Apr-1704/06/17
Low-or-Zero-Tax Jurisdictions That Can Help Save You MoneySovereign ConfidentialSMCAlert07-Mar-1703/07/17
Benefits of an offshore company and how to select the right jurisdiction for youSovereign ConfidentialSMCMonthly Letter19-Jan-1601/19/16
Hong Kong companies can be a very powerful tax strategy for the right personSovereign ConfidentialSMCAlert12-Jan-1601/12/16
Banking in Hong KongSovereign ConfidentialSMCAlert13-Nov-1511/13/15
Simon's big picture thoughts and boots on the ground from the past month of travelSovereign ConfidentialSMCMonthly Letter19-Mar-1503/19/15
Worldwide Banking Review: 2015 EditionSovereign ConfidentialSMCAlert25-Jan-1501/25/15
How to get a Hong Kong passport & renounce US citizenshipSovereign ConfidentialSMCAlert13-Sep-1409/13/14

Articles featuring Hong Kong

Trends & News

Hong Kong is doomed—foolishly lowering and even eliminating taxes

February 5, 2015 Sovereign Valley Farm, Chile The government committee was clear—if nothing was to be done, the government’s finances would be doomed in as little as seven years. The Finance Secretary had some tough decisions to make. Raising more revenue for the government over the next few years is crucial. He was also being […]
Trends & News

Is this place the next Hong Kong?

March 12, 2014 Roatan, Honduras Deep within the Congo basin along the banks of the Kasai River exist two native peoples– the Lele and the Bushong. The two tribes are practically the same people, separated only by a river. Yet when two anthropologists went to Africa in the early 1950s to study these tribes, the […]
Trends & News

It’s about to become much easier to open a bank account in Hong Kong

It all started with 9/11. After the twin towers fell in 2001, the US government sprang into action to wage the global war on terrorism. Within days following the attack, Congress pushed through the USA PATRIOT Act, providing unprecedented authority to the US federal government. The legislation also gave several government agencies sweeping powers over […]
Trends & News

Boots on the ground from Hong Kong [PHOTOS]

October 3, 2014 Santiago, Chile Some of our team members at Sovereign Man are on the ground in Hong Kong and are witnessing first-hand the turmoil that’s been going on there for the past two weeks. It all started on September 22 with grievances over the decision from the Chinese government in Beijing not to […]

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