Travelling to Hong Kong? Here's what you need to know

Only fully vaccinated Hong Kong residents and non-Hong Kong residents are allowed to enter the city. Those who cannot get vaccinated for Covid-19 due to medical reasons must have valid proof and are required to undergo 14 days of compulsory quarantine.

The government allows travellers who have recently recovered from Covid-19 to enter the city if they can show proof of recovery 14 to 90 days before boarding the flight. A negative rapid antigen test result within 24 hours of boarding a flight is also required.

If you're not a permanent Hong Kong resident and travelling under a work or tourist visa, ensure your visa has a sufficient validity period, or you will be denied entry. 

The Immigration Department (ImmD) provides electronic services for visa application and 'e-Visa' arrangements, allowing applicants to complete the entire process without going to the immigration office in person. Suppose your visa is under renewal and is getting delayed. It is best to send an authorised representative to the ImmD office to fix your reentry as emails and phone calls will take a long time. 

Visit this link to see ImmD online services for acquiring Hong Kong visas. 

Though flight bans are scrapped, border control measures are still in place. Requirements to enter Hong Kong include:

• Recognised vaccination records
• Negative RT-PCR test result taken within 48 hours  
• Current rule requires a seven-night room reservation confirmation from designated quarantine hotels dated the same day of your arrival to HK. But from August 12, mandatory quarantine will change to a 3+4 format, which will change booking requirements to three nights in the hotel and four days of 'home medical surveillance', allowing limited movement to some areas in the city such as offices, public transport, and shopping malls.  

Arrivals will be required to download the Leave Home Safe app (available in Google Play and Apple Store) when they land in Hong Kong and undergo daily RAT and regular intervals of RT-PCR tests.

For more information about the requirements, click here. For travellers who recovered from Covid-19, visit this link for relevant arrangements.

Both returning Hongkongers and non-residents are required to book a mandatory quarantine stay at any of the designated hotels. 

From August 12, the compulsory quarantine in a hotel is reduced to three days. The date of your arrival in Hong Kong counts as Day 0, so technically, you will be staying in the quarantine hotel for three nights and four days. Those who get negative results from the Covid-19 tests will complete the quarantine on the morning of Day 3. 

For Hongkongers with addresses in the city, you can go to your home to spend the remaining four days under 'medical surveillance'. Tourists without a place to stay will have to book the remainder of the four days in a hotel of your choosing. You can use public transport while transferring between your destinations. 

Those who continue to test negative from RAT tests can complete the 'medical surveillance' on the morning of Day 7.

People who came to the city between August 3 and 8 and have already completed at least three nights of quarantine in DQHs and tested negative for RAT test will be allowed to leave the hotel from August 9 to 12 and move to medical surveillance at home.   

Here's a guide to the best quarantine hotels in the city. If you need to check available rooms, visit this link from the government.

You will undergo multiple Covid-19 tests in the airport, during the compulsory quarantine, medical surveillance, and self-monitoring period. 

Day 0: You will be subject to an RT-PCR test and RAT when you arrive at the airport

Day 1: Take RAT while in quarantine

Day 2: RT-PCR test will be conducted as well as RAT while in quarantine

Day 3: The RT-PCR test result will be released on the morning of Day 3 (the fourth day of arrival), but you also have to take the RAT, and if both Covid-19 tests are negative, you can proceed to the next step, which is the four-day ‘medical surveillance’ at home or any of your planned accommodations during your visit to the city. 

Day 4, 6, and 9: Take the RT-PCR test at a Community Testing Centre (CTC), mobile specimen collection stations, or you can visit any recognised local medical testing institutions at your own expense. 

Day 4-10: Take daily RAT tests. Day 10 will be the last morning of the medical surveillance and can end after 9am if the result of the RT-PCR (from Day 9) and RAT tests are negative.

Should all your Covid-19 tests return negative, you don’t have to spend the remainder of the four days in the confines of your hotel or home, but your movements will be restricted. 

Arrivals will be assigned an ‘Amber Code’ restriction under the Vaccine Pass, which will be reflected on the Leave Home Safe app that you will be required to download once you arrive in the city. 

Those who test negative for Covid-19 after the three-day quarantine are assigned an Amber Code, which will be activated on the fourth to the seventh day. Amber Codes allow arrivals to leave the hotels but restrict them from accessing designated areas that require a Leave Home Safe app. You will not be permitted to join mask-off or group activities or enter selected venues, including cruise ships, restaurants, party rooms, karaoke lounges, bars and clubs, gyms, indoor sports premises, swimming pools, bathhouses, amusement parks, religious premises, salons, spas, game centres, outdoor public entertainment venues, sports, and event premises.   

So what are the places you’re allowed to visit? Well, you can take public transport, go to your office, or get groceries from supermarkets and wet markets. 

‘Medical surveillance’ will end on the morning of Day 7, and the code will finally turn blue so you can eventually go around and explore the whole of Hong Kong.

If you need some recommendations about the best delivery services in the city, check out this list. 

To ensure a smooth and efficient arrival, prepare all the necessary requirements, including confirmed quarantine hotel booking, vaccination record, and negative RT-PCR and RAT test results.  

From July 28, the government implemented the upgraded health declaration system. This allows travellers to complete the electronic health declaration and input other information required for inbound quarantine, such as vaccination records and reservation details for DQHs. Registration for the electronic health declaration must be completed before travellers can board a flight to Hong Kong.  

After registration, you will receive a generated QR code with all your supplied information. This QR code is essential when you arrive at the airport, and all procedures will require that you show this QR code. 

Printed health declaration forms are no longer applicable in the airport. Issuance of quarantine orders, medical surveillance notices, vaccination records and Provisional Vaccine Pass QR codes will be done electronically. Express channels for health declaration, QR code verification, and point-to-point transportation to DQHs will be available at the airport. 

If the system fails to confirm your DQH booking information online, you will be issued a pink health declaration QR code, which requires you to show your DQH booking documentation upon check-in. Should you encounter any hiccups while filing the form online, seek assistance from the airport staff upon arrival at Hong Kong. 

Delays, cancellations, and a whole lot of waiting may happen before departure, so make sure to be at the airport at least three hours before your flight. Account for extra time if you encounter any problems with airline check-in. 

Yes, you’re finally in Hong Kong… but not just yet. You still have a few more steps to finish before entering. Though the new system significantly cuts the waiting time in the airport, the influx of inbound travellers may affect processing time.

Once you get to the airport, you will complete a one-stop registration at the specimen collection stations on the arrival level of Terminal 1. Here you will go through the RT-PCR testing and rapid antigen test (RAT). After completing the tests, those issued with a green health declaration QR code can proceed with immigration procedures and baggage collection. 

Once you receive the negative RAT result, you can continue to take the point-to-point transport to DQHs, where you will spend the three-day mandatory quarantine.

Yes. From July 25, aside from the free point-to-point designated bus service, travellers arriving in the city can now opt to take designated taxis or limousine services at their own expense. 

One hundred designated taxis have been assigned to provide transport services for inbound persons from the airport to DQHs and will operate daily from 8am to 2am. If you want to take these modes of transport, you have to inform the airport staff after completing immigration procedures. A designated area for waiting and boarding DQH taxis will be provided. 

Those who want a limousine service can contact their hotels for arrangements. Currently, about 10 DQHs provide self-paid limousine services. 

In the unfortunate event that this happens, the government will send you to appropriate government facilities. Those who require treatment will be transferred to a public hospital facility.  

If you test positive during your three-day quarantine (Days 0-3), you will be transferred to government isolation centres.

If your Covid-19 test results come back positive during the four days of medical surveillance, infected individuals will be issued a Red Code and get an electronic tag wristband that will restrict them from leaving home.  

The government has set up a page for all your questions about inbound travel to Hong Kong. Visit this link for all the latest travel regulations. 

Once you're free to roam Hong Kong, these itineraries will give you a dose of inspiration. Looking for hotel accommodations during your trip? Here's a guide to some of our favourite Hong Kong hotels – all tried and tested by our editors.