Important
🎯 Admission & application
Parents
For parents: money, proof, and scams
Parents really need to know three things: when to send money, which document the visa people read, and what kind of scam your child may face.
1. Money: when to pay, and how much
| When | Item | Amount (HK$) |
|---|---|---|
| On submitting the application | Application fee | $450 (non-refundable) |
| On confirming the offer | Deposit | $15,000 (non-refundable) |
| After the offer, during the visa application | CityU visa administrative fee | $600 (excludes the Immigration Department's visa fee) |
| Each academic year | Tuition | $190,000 (veterinary medicine $392,000) |
| Each academic year | Hall fee (double room, Semesters A+B) | $20,800 |
| Each academic year | Living expenses | $50,000 – $60,000 |
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Once the deposit is paid and acceptance confirmed, CityU passes your child's details to the provincial admissions office and the Ministry of Education, and your child is no longer eligible for Mainland unified enrolment. That money is not just money — it is an irreversible choice. Agree on it as a family before you pay.
2. Remittances: the order CityU recommends
CityU's financial matters page is specific:
- About HK$10,000 is enough to cover living expenses in the first month.
- Students do not need to carry large amounts of cash to campus — Hong Kong has banks everywhere and licensed money changers are common.
- It is advisable to remit larger sums in Hong Kong dollars only after the student has opened a bank account.
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Tip: so the correct sequence is "bring one month's living expenses → open an account after arriving → parents remit the larger sum". Do not send a large sum before your child has an account: it is neither safe nor necessarily receivable.
3. Proof of funds: the most practical line in the visa file
On "how much should the deposit statement show, and must it be frozen", CityU's FAQ answers:
- The Immigration Department sets no specific requirement as to amount.
- But in its experience students normally submit evidence of liquid funds, such as a bank deposit statement.
- An income certificate or a property certificate alone may not be enough.
- There is no minimum freezing period, and a current account is acceptable.
- CityU's visa page adds that the amount should be consistent with the financial information entered on page 3 of ID995A.
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The trap parents fall into most often is "the two figures do not match": one number on ID995A, a different number on the bank statement, and you are asked for further documents, which slows the approval. Print the statement and align the two before you fill anything in.
4. Scams: please read this with your child
CityU devotes a section of its "Hong Kong at a glance" page to "beware of deception":
- Fraudsters approach students posing as public officials, courier company staff, law enforcement officers and so on.
- They use various methods to extract money; some obtain the student's personal data unlawfully, convincing the student that they are connected to a crime, and it is believed.
Action list for parents:
- Agree a family rule: any request to transfer money means phoning home first. Hang up on any request involving a transfer, a loan or a remittance, then verify by calling family.
- Save the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre number (+852 18222) in your child's phone.
- Do not give your child the bank password or verification codes for large sums, or at least agree a per-transaction limit.
- CityU has not appointed any agency to recruit on its behalf — anyone charging a fee as a "CityU partner" is a fraud.
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Real law enforcement officers and public officials will not phone demanding a transfer, will not ask for your bank password and will not ask you to move money to a "safe account". Hang up, then call 18222.
5. On accompanying your child
- What CityU's public materials mention is the dependant visa regime: a dependant visa holder approved after turning 18 is classified as a non-local student when applying to study.
- Parents considering accompanying their child as a dependant must meet the Hong Kong Immigration Department's dependant visa conditions; CityU does not handle such applications.
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Tip: accompanying a child is a matter of Hong Kong immigration policy, not university policy. Check the Immigration Department's website or consult a professional — do not rely on what an agent tells you.
6. Other common questions (summary of the official answers)
| Question | Official answer |
|---|---|
| How long does the visa take? | Eight weeks is the Immigration Department's conservative estimate; the University processes documents as soon as it receives them |
| How long must the deposit statement be frozen? | No minimum period; a current account is acceptable |
| Local or non-local student? | See the Admissions Office website for the definitions; the application routes and the tuition differ |
| When are results released? | By email between late June and early July 2026; nothing by mid-July means no offer |
| If not admitted, can you still take part in the unified scheme? | Yes. It does not affect applications to Mainland institutions |
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Tip: the three key dates for parents — 11 June (applications close), noon on 26 June (Gaokao results uploaded) and 15 July (hall applications close). Put all three in your phone calendar.
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