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.

Special Scheme - Application and Quota Management System

Online System

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

1. 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.
2. RCHs are required to submit Special Scheme applications (including applications for quotas under the Special Scheme, applications for replacement of imported care workers, etc.), and report changes to imported care workers/quota information (including the submission of “Acknowledgment Record of Standard Employment Contract”, “Notice of Termination of Employment Contract with Imported Care Workers”, “Notice of Completion of Employment Contract with Imported Care Workers”, etc.) through the Special Scheme - Application and Quota Management System (“Special Scheme" Quota System) (please click here to visit Online Platform for Welfare Services to access the “Special Scheme” Quota System).  Should RCH operators have any questions about the “Special Scheme” Quota System or require technical support, please refer to documents and files in Part V (Application and Quota Management System) of the Forms/Documents/Reference Materials of the Special Scheme on this webpage or contact our duty officer at telephone number 3468 3923.
3. The tenth round application of the Special Scheme will be launched from 9:00 a.m. on 28 August 2026 (Friday) till 5:00 p.m. on 10 September 2026 (Thursday).  The tenth round application will allocate around 800 new quotas and accept quota applications for employment contract renewal with the existing imported care workers submitted by RCHEs, RCHDs and NHs. The contract renewal quota can be used for renewing the employment contract with the imported care worker whose contract will expire on or before 30 June 2027.
4. The processing time of the Special Scheme is around 2 months.  RCH operators who intend to submit applications may draft the electronic application form and save application materials in the “Special Scheme” Quota System from 10:00 a.m. on 13 August 2026 (Thursday), and submit the application through the “Special Scheme” Quota System between 9:00 a.m. on 28 August 2026 (Friday) and 5:00 p.m. on 10 September 2026 (Thursday).  RCH operators may also fill in the electronic application form and submit the application in the “Special Scheme” Quota System after the current round application commences at 9:00 a.m. on 28 August 2026 (Friday).  RCH operators are not required to submit the physical application form after submitting the application through the “Special Scheme” Quota System.
5. The SWD provides a transitional arrangement when processing the tenth round application, allowing RCH operators to submit applications between 9:00 a.m. on 28 August 2026 (Friday) and 5:00 p.m. on 10 September 2026 (Thursday) first by physical (paper) application form in person or by post (dated by the postmark) on discretion.  The address is provided in the contact information below.  However, the RCH operators are still required to submit the electronic application form through the “Special Scheme” Quota System within a specified deadline starting from the day after physical (paper) application form is submitted.  If an RCH operator fails to submit the application through the “Special Scheme” Quota System within the specified period, the processing of the application may be affected.
6. For the avoidance of doubt, if the SWD receives, on different dates within the application period, both an electronic application form and a physical (paper) application form submitted by an RCH operator, the application will be processed based on the information in the first application form received.  If the SWD receives the electronic application form and the physical (paper) application form from the RCH operator on the same day, the application will be processed based on the information in the electronic application.
7. The form of “Information of Full-time Local Employees of Residential Care Home” (Annex 2 to Application Form) have been updated. If RCH operators submit applications by physical (paper) application form in person or by post, the new form of “Information of Full-time Local Employees of Residential Care Home” (Annex 2 to Application Form) should be used.
8. Frequently Asked Questions and Answers on the Special Scheme have been updated. The document can be downloaded on this webpage.  Before making application, please refer to the “Booklet on the Special Scheme to Import Care Workers for Residential Care Homes”, “Points to Note” in the Application Form and reference materials of the Special Scheme on this webpage for details of the application procedures.
9. The eleventh round application of the Special Scheme will be launched in January 2027.  The details will be announced in December 2026.
10. Employers may deduct the accommodation fee, in respect of a period that the imported care workers occupy the accommodation provided by the employers, from the wages payable to the imported care workers, and the amount shall be equal to the actual cost of the accommodation or 10% of the wages (excluding any overtime pay) payable to the imported care workers for the corresponding period in accordance with the Standard Employment Contracts, whichever is the less.  For “Notice of Quota Approval” for importation of care workers issued by the SWD on or after 3 July 2026, the maximum deduction is 20% of the wages (excluding any overtime pay) payable to the imported care workers.  “Notice of Quota Approval” previously issued and existing “Standard Employment Contracts” will not be affected.  The SWD will inform about the relevant arrangements in the “Notice of Quota Approval” issued to employers to whom this measure applies.
11. If employers employ local persons with disabilities in receipt of Normal Disability Allowance or Higher Disability Allowance from the SWD to take up full-time jobs and apply for imported care workers, the manning ratio of local employees with disabilities to imported care workers will be calculated at 1:1.
12. For enquiries, please contact our office at:    

Forms/Documents/Reference Materials of the Special Scheme

1. Booklet

2. Application Form and Annexes 
   (Applications for the Special Scheme are required to be submitted through the “Special Scheme” Quota System)

3. Documents related to Visa/Entry Permit Applications of Imported Care Workers

4. Follow-up Documents after Approval of Quotas
   (The documents are required to be submitted through the “Special Scheme” Quota System, except for “Notice of Change of Residence”)

5. Application and Quota Management System

6. Other Documents

7. Reference Materials

Point to note

Employers who are granted quotas to import care workers under the Special Scheme and intend to import care workers from the Mainland must recruit the care workers through the Mainland labour service enterprises approved by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and granted the permission to operate business on labour service cooperation with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.  We appeal to employers and Mainland residents seeking to work in Hong Kong under the Special Scheme to stay vigilant and ascertain the capability of the enterprises to operate the business to avoid being deceived or misled, which may result in financial loss or delay in the processing of applications. The list of Mainland labour service enterprises is available on the website of the Ministry of Commerce.

Other Information

According to the latest statistics of the Census and Statistics Department, the median monthly wage for care worker is HKD$15,500 (9 hours of normal working hours per day excluding meal break).