On February 7th 2023, the IRCC Minister announced an extension of the public policy for Hong Kong residents and expanded the eligibility criteria.
The update extends the deadline to apply to February 7th 2025. Furthermore, the eligibility criteria has been expanded to include those who graduated from a post secondary institution in the 10 years preceding the date of submission of the open work permit application.
Interested applicants in this program should also be aware that the recent foreign buyer ban would not apply to Hong Kong residents who obtain an open work permit through this public policy program. This is because this open work permit is issued based on S25.2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act which would exempt the holder of the work permit from the ban.
If you are interested in learning more about how to apply or how the foreign buyer ban may affect the work permit holder, please contact us.