Visiting Programme

• To qualify for admission as a visiting student, you must have reached the educational standards in the English language and the subjects of your choice considered adequate by the head of the relevant department.

• The University is unlikely to have enough places for everyone applying for admission as visiting students, and will select those most likely to benefit from studying at the University.

• For general information on courses offered, please refer to the Degree Regulations and Course Descriptions.

• Faculties will be able to indicate whether a particular course is available during a specific semester.

• Visiting students can be admitted to study for Diploma/Certificate course in Chinese Language offered by the School of Chinese in the Faculty of Arts if they do not intend to attend these courses for full duration.

Your home institution MUST send the below documents to exchange@hku.hk for application.

Official Academic Transcript

• Include translation if it is not in English
• Online/Unofficial academic results will not be accepted

Proof of English Language proficiency

Please refer to the guideline of our minimum requirement for English Proficiency Proof

(The University of Hong Kong reserves the right to ask for further proof of sufficient English language proficiency.)

After receiving the documents from your home institution, an invitation email for online application will be sent to you during application period. Login credentials and instructions will be included in the email. 

Please complete your online application on or before the application deadline. Otherwise, your application will not be processed.

Points to Note in Online Application

• Email address 

 Make sure it is correct as we will contact you through the email used in your application.

• Name 

Please include your full name as shown on your passport. In the case of a name with special characters, please enter your transliterated name with roman alphabets that appears in the machine readable lines at the bottom of your passport identification page.

Note: Names containing special characters (e.g. numbers, symbols, punctuation, diacritical characters and accent characters) could not be processed due to IT considerations.

• Passport Information 

Your passport provided must remain valid until the end of your proposed exchange period plus 6 extra months. Otherwise, you may not be granted a student visa.

• HKU ID (if applicable only) 

Only provide your 10-digit HKU Student ID Number if you have studied at HKU before. If you have never studied at HKU, please leave it blank. 

• HKID (if applicable only)

Only provide your HKID number if you have Hong Kong Idenitiy Card.  If not, please leave it blank.

You must submit the following supporting documents:

Visiting Application Documents

Please ensure that the following documents are uploaded to your online application:

• Credit Card Payment Form or Receipt for Application Fee
• Copy of the Personal Information Page of your passport (one page only)
• Curriculum vitae (for Faculty of Law applicants only)

Hard copy of the visiting application documents is not mandatory. We shall communicate with you immediately if any hard copies of the documents is required. 

Visa Application Paths

Please visit HKU Student Visa page  https://www.studentvisa.hku.hk/ for instructions and application procedures. 

Depending on student’s nationality, student’s visa application will go through two different application paths.

1. Applications from Mainland students (using Exit-entry Permit as travel document and enter Hong Kong from Mainland China)

     Online Application system: https://studentvisa-mainland.hku.hk

2. Applications from international/Macao/Taiwan students (nationalities other than Chinese or, Chinese nationals with permanent residency in overseas entering Hong Kong from any other places other than Mainland China) 

     Online Application system: https://studentvisa-overseas.hku.hk/

For enquiries, please click here.

Points to Note for Visa Application

• Students must complete online application by the visa application deadline and mail hard copies of application documents after receiving instructions from visa office. [Please do not mail the visa application to International Affairs Office]

• Please note that it will take at least 10 weeks to process student’s visa application and the visa application fee is non-refundable.

• During visa application, students will be asked to submit Notice of Admission. Exchange students without Notice of Admission can submit their student visa application first with a blank page, and upload it later when available.

Due to shortage in housing resources, students are suggested to apply for accommodation as soon as possible. The allocation of housing is subject to availability. Students are allowed to apply for accommodation before receiving the Notice of Admission. 

Undergraduate Students

• Application Webpage: Accommodation for Newly-admitted Non-local Undergraduate Students 

(Please apply with the 10-digit Exchange Application Reference Number)

• Upon receiving Notice of Admission, students should send a copy of the signed letter to CEDARS by email for their further processing of the application. 
• Accommodation results will be announced through email. Student who has received offer should send a confirmation email to respective hall manager to accept the offer and indicate the check-in date.  The offer will be withdrawn if no response has been received.

Postgraduate Student (indicated in your Notice of Admission)

• Application Webpage: http://w2.cedars.hku.hk/pgh/  
• Accommodation results will be announced through email. After receiving your Notice of Admission, please send a copy of the signed Notice of Admission to individual halls you have applied through email.

For accommodation application enquiries, please refer to our FAQ or contact CEDARS Accommodation at accommodation@cedars.hku.hk

After receiving Notice of Admission, students are required to complete the following steps to accept the offer.

1. Sign and submit your Notice of Admission

• Students should check whether the information in the Notice of Admission is correct (e.g. name and period of registration)
• Login to your online application account to accept / decline the offer and upload your signed Notice of Admission
• Pay the full fees shown in the Notice of Admission before the given closing date
• Send a copy of your signed Notice of Admission to your host faculty by email

2. Secure your Visa Application

• Upload a copy of the signed Notice of Admission to student's online visa application

3. Secure your Accommodation Application

• Send a copy of signed Notice of Admission to CEDARS Accommodation at accommodation@cedars.hku.hk to further process the accommodation application.
• Student who has received offer should send a confirmation email to respective hall manager to accept the offer and indicate the check-in date.  The offer will be withdrawn if no response has been received.