Hong Kong Student Guide 2026–27: Visa, HKID, Housing, Budget

Service changes · 服務更新

• By 31 Oct: Renew your Student Octopus Now done in the MTR Mobile app. Under 26 only.
• In force: Part-time work, no hours cap Full-time degree students are exempt for now. Exchange students are not.
• From 1 May: Minimum wage HK$43.10 Anything less is illegal, training rate or not.

Quick Start Checklist

Before you fly

• Accept your offer and pay any deposit
• Apply for your student visa — allow 6–8 weeks
• Arrange health and travel insurance
• Book 10–14 nights of temporary accommodation if you have no hall offer
• Pack your document folder for hand luggage, never checked
• Buy a Type G power adapter
• Download Google Maps, MTR Mobile, Octopus, WhatsApp, MyObservatory
• Tell your home bank you are moving, and check your card's FX fee
• Set a monthly budget you actually believe

Your first week

• Buy a local SIM card at the airport
• Buy an Octopus card at any MTR station
• Book and attend your HKID appointment — legal deadline is 30 days
• Open a bank account
• Complete university registration and collect your student ID
• Apply for Student Octopus in the MTR Mobile app (under 26 only)
• Attend every orientation event, including the boring ones
• Walk your neighbourhood: MTR, supermarket, laundry, clinic, cheap lunch

Your first month

• Secure long-term accommodation if you are not in halls
• Set up electricity, gas and broadband if renting
• Register with your consulate
• Register with the campus health service
• Join at least one society and turn up three times
• Notify Immigration if your address changed
• Collect your HKID card
• Book the free university Cantonese course
• Go on one hike, one beach or one ferry

Sixteen stations

• 01 Welcome & Overview: What you are walking into, in numbers and in feeling.
• 02 Before You Arrive: Visa, documents, budget, and the packing list that saves you HK$2,000.
• 03 Benefits & Support: Everything you are already paying for and probably will not use.
• 04 Arrival: First Week: Airport to bed, SIM to HKID, in the right order.
• 05 Accommodation & Flat Hunting: The biggest line in your budget and the easiest to get wrong.
• 06 Getting Around: The best public transport system in the world. Learn it in a week.
• 07 Banking & Money: Open an account in week one. Everything else gets easier after that.
• 08 University Life: How class actually works, and what your professors expect.
• 09 Food & Shopping: One of the great eating cities on earth, and you can do it on HK$100 a day.
• 10 Life & Wellbeing: Hikes, beaches, nights out, and how to look after your head.
• 11 Healthcare: Public, private, campus clinic, and what each one costs.
• 12 Legal & Safety: Visa conditions, local law, scams, and what to do when documents vanish.
• 13 Culture & Language: How much Cantonese you need, and the etiquette that makes life smoother.
• 14 Work & Career: What you can legally do, what pays, and how to stay after graduation.
• 15 First 30 Days: The whole thing, in order, with the deadlines that actually bite.
• 16 Resources: Every link and number in one place. Bookmark this station.