Special Scheme to Import Care Workers for Residential Care Homes (“Special Scheme”)
Background and Objectives
To address the shortage of and increasing demand for care workers, and to assist the residential care homes (RCHs) sector in enhancing service quality, the Government, on the premise of safeguarding the employment priority for local workers, launched the Special Scheme on 19 June 2023 to allow RCHs for the elderly (RCHEs), RCHs for persons with disabilities (RCHDs) and nursing homes (NHs) to import care workers on an appropriate scale, relax the ratio of imported care workers to local staff, and streamline the vetting procedures for applications.
Eligibility for Application
RCHEs issued with licences under the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance (Cap. 459), RCHDs issued with licences under the Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Ordinance (Cap. 613), and NHs issued with letters of exemption under the Private Healthcare Facilities Ordinance (Cap. 633).
Application & Enquiries
- The Special Scheme accepts RCHEs, RCHDs and NHs to submit applications for quotas within a specified application period of about two weeks. The actual dates of accepting application will be announced at appropriate time in the "What's New" of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) website.
- The fifth round application of the Special Scheme will be launched from 9:00 a.m. on 19 December 2024 (Thursday) till 5:00 p.m. on 6 January 2025 (Monday). The application can be submitted by hand, by post or through e-Form. The fifth round application will allocate around 800 new quotas for applications for importation of care workers and accept quota applications for employment contract renewal with the existing imported care workers submitted by RCHE, RCHD and NHs.
- RCH operators may submit applications online (the hyperlink of the E-form will be provided later), or download the application form on this page and submit the completed application form together with the required documents in person or by post, to Contract Management Section (Oi Kwan Road Office) of SWD. The processing time is around 2 months.
- The RCH Applicant should submit the completed application form together with the form of “Information of Imported Workers of Other Schemes”. The form of “Information of Imported Workers of Other Schemes” can be downloaded from "Forms and Documents of Special Scheme".
- Before making application, please refer to the “Booklet on Special Scheme to Import Care Workers for Residential Care Homes” and “Points to Note” in the Application Form for details of the application procedures. For the latest median monthly wage of care workers in Hong Kong, please refer to “Other Information” for details.
- The sixth round application of the Special Scheme will be launched in April 2025. Details will be announced in March 2025.
- For enquiries, please contact our office at:
Address | Contract Management Section (Oi Kwan Road Office) Room 306, 3/F, Lady Trench Training Centre, 44 Oi Kwan Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., except public holidays) |
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Telephone | 3468 3923 (Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., except public holidays) |
Fax | 3468 2002 |
cmenq2@swd.gov.hk |
Forms and Documents of Special Scheme
Item / Name | Download File |
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Booklet on Special Scheme to Import Care Workers for Residential Care Homes (4/2024) | PDF (Text-only version) |
Application Form (with "Points to Note" and "Requirements on the Recruitment Advertisement of Local Care Worker(s)") (9/2023) | PDF Online Form |
Confirmation Form on Local Recruitment (Annex 1 to Application Form) (8/2023) | |
Information Form of Full-time Local Employees of Residential Care Home (Annex 2 to Application Form) (8/2023) | |
List of In-employ Imported Care Worker (Annex 3 to Application Form) (9/2023) | |
List of imported care workers (including replacement of imported care workers) not yet arrived in Hong Kong (Annex 4 to Application Form) (8/2023) | |
Information of Imported Workers of Other Schemes | |
Declaration and Authorisation Form (for Imported Care Workers' completion only) (4/2024) | |
Joint Declaration Form on Importing Workers from the Mainland to Hong Kong | PDF (Chinese only) |
Declaration of Accommodation Particulars of Imported Care Workers (4/2024) | |
Application Form for Appeal on Application Result | PDF(Chinese only) |
Acknowledgment Record of Employment Contract | |
Notice of Termination of Employment Contract (6/2024) | PDF(Chinese only) |
Application for replacement of Imported Care Workers | PDF(Chinese only) |
Notice of change of residence | PDF(Chinese only) |
Other Information
- According to the statistics of the Census and Statistics Department, the updated median monthly wage for care worker is HKD$14,820 (9 hours of normal working hours per day excluding meal break).
- An online briefing session was held by SWD for the residential care home sector on 1 August 2024 to provide an overview of new quota allocation, highlight key points for applicants to pay special attention to, and answer enquiries. The Powerpoint slides of this briefing session can be downloaded here(Chinese only).
- Frequently asked questions and answers on the Special Scheme (updated in August 2024), please click here (Chinese only).
- The illustration to complete the e-Form, please click here.