Important Information for Admitted Students

Students with  a Confirmed Offer of Admission		Students with  a Conditional Offer of Admission
Step 1	Accept the offer via the Online Application System and upload proof of payment of the admission deposit (non-refundable), if applicable, by the acceptance deadline.	(a) Accept the conditional offer via the Online Application System by the acceptance deadline. (b) Apply for student visa immediately for non-local students. (c) Submission of the required document(s) by the specified deadline. (d) Received confirmed offer of admission from the Graduate School once you have satisfied all the condition(s) specified in the conditional offer letter. (e) Accept the offer via the Online Application System and upload proof of payment of the admission deposit (non-refundable), if applicable, by the acceptance deadline.
Step 2	Apply for student visa immediately for non-local students (if you have not yet done so).
Step 3	Apply for University accommodation, if needed.
Step 4	Complete the online master registration: An email will normally be sent to you via the email account(s) specified in your application form within two months prior to the date of registration. Follow the procedures and complete the online master registration within three days from the issue date of the email. Refer to the *Registration Information* (HKU Portal login required) for other important information.
Step 5	On or before Registration Date: (a)    Bring your original passport* to the Graduate School office in person for the final checking of academic qualifications and English language proficiency test results (if any), and get a confirmation slip; and (b)    Report in person to the Faculty Office for registration, and submit the confirmation slip (i.e. refer to (a) above) and the required documents.
Step 6	For Postgraduate Scholarship (PGS)/fellowship holders, set up a bank account with a local bank in Hong Kong, and provide the bank account information through the Student Information System (‘SIS’) (HKU Portal > SIS Menu > Financial Services > View/Amend Bank Account Info) on or before the 10th day of the first month.  Late update of bank account information in SIS will lead to postponement of PGS/fellowship payment.

* For local students with all academic qualifications obtained in local tertiary institutions, you may bring your HKID card or passport for verification.  For students from China who do not have a passport, please bring the Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao (往來港澳通行證).  For students with academic qualifications obtained outside the home country, the passport should show that you were physically located in the country of the overseas university from which you claimed to have earned the academic qualifications during the relevant study period.  If you have recently renewed the passport, please bring the expired passport showing the above information.  

Fees

The Composition Fee for 2024-25 is HK$42,100 for full-time studies, and HK$63,000 for part-time studies.  New students are also required to pay the Caution Money (HK$350), and the Student Activity Fee (HK$100 per year for full-time students only).  Click here for the schedule of fees.

The Composition Fee will be waived for all local full-time students under the Government’s Tuition Waiver Scheme, and for awardees of the HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship and Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme.   

Students are liable to pay an admission deposit, including the Caution Money, Annual Student Activity Fee and the first of the two installments of Composition Fee upon acceptance of the offer of admission.  New students who have difficulties in paying the admission deposit and would like to apply for deferred payment of fees prior to registration should contact the Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS) (email: cedars@hku.hk).

Concurrent Registration 

The University’s General Regulations G6 prohibits concurrent registration by a student for another post-secondary qualification either at this University or another institution, unless approval of the Senate has been given in advance.  A breach of this regulation may result in discontinuation of studies at this University.  If you are in doubt about your own position with regard to this regulation, please check with the Graduate School as soon as possible. 

Student Visa

All students without the right of abode/right to land in Hong Kong (i.e. non-local students) must apply for a student visa for the purpose of education from the Hong Kong Immigration Department (ImmD).  Tourist or training visa is not acceptable for this purpose.  Changing your status after arrival is rarely approved, which means that your studies will be seriously disrupted.  You are required to present your student visa to the Faculty Office for verification upon your arrival at the University.

All non-local students are advised to apply for the visa immediately after accepting an offer or conditional offer of admission to study in HKU.  Students with a conditional offer of admission should start the visa application as early as possible and it is not necessary to wait for the confirmed offer of admission.

The processing of Entry for Study visa application will take 8-10 weeks upon receipt of a complete set of application documents. The actual processing time could be longer for individual cases, especially if your set of documents is incomplete.  For Mainland Chinese applicants, additional 2 weeks will be needed to apply for an Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao (EEP) and the relevant exit endorsement.  Visit the Student Visa Application website for details.

Accommodation

The Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS) administers a variety of student residences within and outside the University campus. Students with an offer of admission to the PhD or MPhil programme may apply for university accommodation.  

All new non-local research postgraduate students, HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship awardees and Hong Kong PhD Fellowship awardees are guaranteed a hall place to the end of the residential year within their first year of admittance, at a residence assigned by the University, subject to the terms and conditions.  Visit the CEDARS homepage for information about housing. 

The application details are available as follows:

Students	Application Information
New research postgraduate students who are: (i) Non-local; (ii) HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship (HKU-PS) awardees; or (iii) Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) awardees	here
Other research postgraduate students	here

Students holding conditional offer of admission can apply for housing, but offer of housing will only be made when admission of study is confirmed.

Reminder: Please inform the Graduate School (gradsch@hku.hk) if there is any update on your contact information (e.g. correspondence address, email address and phone number).