Hong Kong – COVID-19: Inbound Traveller Requirements Relaxed

Jump to: All Places of Origin, Except Mainland China and Macao | Mainland or Macao 

The compulsory hotel quarantine requirements in Hong Kong have been removed and passengers are only required to complete three days of medical surveillance (‘’0+3’’), since 26 September 2022.¹ This applies to passengers from all points of origin, except Mainland China and Macao. The arrangement for inbound persons from the Mainland or Macao has also been rationalised. 

The Hong Kong government had relaxed the compulsory hotel quarantine requirement from seven days to three days on 12 August 2022. This resulted in an increase in the number of inbound travellers, while the daily average number of imported cases continued a downward trend.

With this latest announcement to lift the compulsory quarantine requirements, travel to Hong Kong has been made easier and should ease the challenges of both business and personal travel.

No longer required, as follows:

• A negative nucleic acid testing report prior to boarding;
• Complete course of vaccination prior to boarding for Hong Kong residents;

Compulsory quarantine. 

Remaining requirements as follows:

• Inbound travellers are required to submit a declaration of a negative result of a self-arranged rapid antigen test (RAT) conducted 24 hours prior to the departure flight scheduled time, via the online Health & Quarantine Information Declaration of the Department of Health.
• "Test-and-go" arrangement is in place at the Hong Kong International Airport, where the inbound persons can take transport to return directly to their home or hotel instead of being required to wait for the test result at the airport after undergoing specimen collection for the nucleic acid test.
• Inbound persons are required to take the nucleic acid tests at community testing centres, mobile testing stations or other recognised institutions on the second, fourth, and sixth days (the day of arrival is Day 0) upon arrival at Hong Kong, supplemented by daily RATs from Day 1 to Day 7.
• Days 0 to 3: inbound persons are subject to medical surveillance, which means they will be subject to Amber Code restrictions under the Vaccine Pass – limiting access to restaurants, gyms and similar facilities involving groups or activities where a face mask is not worn.
• Days 4 to 7: The Amber Code restrictions cease to apply but testing, as indicated above, needs to be completed.
• If any inbound persons test positive by means of nucleic acid tests or RATs, their Vaccine Pass will be converted to a Red Code.² The isolation arrangement will be the same as local cases. 

• The Return2hk and Come2hk Schemes are extended to cover all places in Mainland China and Macao, without quota restrictions.
• Pre-arrival advanced application / nucleic acid tests are no longer required.
• No home quarantine upon arrivals is required.
• Inbound persons from Mainland China or Macao are still required to undergo the nucleic acid test on the second day and be subject to self-monitoring from day zero to day three (the third day) day upon arrival.     
  

The “0+3” policy helps to restore the convenience of travel and makes it easier for people to travel to Hong Kong, or return to Hong Kong following outbound travel. This should help facilitate business activities where travel is necessary or desirable. As the inconvenience of hotel quarantine is removed, business and personal travel plans that have been deferred or avoided over recent years will hopefully start to resume.  

1  For more information, see, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Press Release .

2  For more information, see the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, “Points to Note for Persons who Tested Positive .”

* Please note the KPMG International member firm in the United States does not provide immigration or labour law services. However, KPMG Law LLP in Canada can assist clients with U.S. immigration matters.

The information contained in this newsletter was submitted by the KPMG International member firm in Hong Kong.