All students without the right of abode/right to land in Hong Kong 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.
You are advised to apply for the visa as soon as possible after accepting an offer or conditional offer of admission to study in HKU. 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.
Please refer to the Admissions Office website for the detailed information.