Children of non-local talent visa holders may no longer be eligible for discounted local tuition fees at Hong Kong universities starting in 2027, according to new rules announced by the city’s university application body.

The Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS)’s announcement on Thursday formalises a government statement last July, which said authorities had introduced residency requirements to the definition of “local students” applying to tertiary institutions.

Under the new rules, students on dependent visas will only be considered local students – and hence be eligible for cheaper tuition – if they are full-time students in the city, or have resided in Hong Kong for a certain period.

The residency requirement for those applying in 2027 is one year, meaning they must have been in Hong Kong during the period of June 2026 to May 31, with a maximum of 90 days of absence allowed.

For those applying in and after 2028, the requirement will increase to two years.

Students must submit travel records from the Immigration Department when applying as proof of residency. If they are studying in Hong Kong, they must also provide proof.

The move came after concerns that children of the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) might not live in Hong Kong, but can still benefit from cheaper tuition rates instead of international school fees at public universities.

Undergraduate tuition for local students at the city’s eight public universities is HK$47,000 a year, while for international students, the fees are more than HK$200,000.

Introduced in late 2022, TTPS – which has a lower threshold than other visa programmes – has attracted overwhelmingly mainland Chinese applicants. It has been reported that many TTPS visa holders do not actually move to Hong Kong, using the scheme for purposes such as to make travel more convenient and enjoy tax benefits in the mainland.

Chris Sun, the labour and welfare minister, said in the Legislative Council last September that from 2023 to August 2025, the government issued a total of 220,000 dependent visas under various talent schemes, local media reported.

A mainland Chinese woman has been acquitted of fraud over allegedly using a fake academic degree to obtain Hong Kong’s Top Talent visa, after a magistrate accepted the possibility that her agent made the false application.

Magistrate Raymond Wong found Xu Lina, 36, not guilty of conspiracy to defraud at the Shatin Magistrates’ Courts on Monday, according to local media.

The prosecution accused Xu of conspiring with a man surnamed Sun to defraud the director of the Immigration Department and other staff in her application for the city’s Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) visa by falsely claiming she held a bachelor’s degree from the University of Technology Sydney. Xu also applied for dependent visas for her husband and three children.

The defendant, who pleaded not guilty, told the court last month that she was deceived by Sun, her mainland agent in handling the visa application, to whom she paid around HK$520,000. While Xu wanted to apply for a Category A visa, which only requires a HK$2.5 million income from the past year, Sun filed her application for a Category B visa, which also demands a degree from a “top university.”

The magistrate said on Monday that Xu and her husband appeared to have met the Category A income threshold, given that the couple purchased a home in Shenzhen in 2023 with a single HK$5.4 million instalment.

Wong also noted that the phone number, email, residential addresses and even the signature on Xu’s TTPS application form did not belong to her, pointing to the possibility that the agent filled out the online application.

It was possible that the agent may have “secretly” applied for a Category B visa for a higher fee and kept Xu in the dark, with her believing she was submitting a Category A application, Wong said.

The magistrate criticised Xu for never checking the application materials herself after paying Sun the fee and passing on her documents.

During the trial last month, Xu said neither she nor her husband held a bachelor’s degree. Her husband is a businessman, while she is a full-time housewife. Sun, the agent, disappeared after her husband told him of her arrest on April 16, 2025, she added.

Hong Kong introduced the TTPS in December 2022 to attract more high earners and graduates from top universities amid a wave of emigration. The government keeps a list of recognised “top universities,” which currently numbers 199.

HKFP reported in early 2025 that, with a lower threshold than other talent programmes, the TTPS now contributes to a major share of work visas in Hong Kong.

According to the Immigration Department, as of December 2025, the authority had approved more than 120,000 visas under the TTPS. Most of the visa holders are mainland Chinese.