Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-110

§5726 Treatment of Hong Kong Applicants for Visas to Study or Work in the United States

Title 22 › CHAPTER 66 — UNITED STATES-HONG KONG POLICY › SUBCHAPTER II — STATUS OF HONG KONG IN UNITED STATES LAW › § 5726

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

People who lived in Hong Kong in 2014 or later cannot be turned away from visas to enter, study, or work in the United States just because they were arrested, detained, or otherwise punished for political reasons. Visa decisions must not be based mainly on those politically motivated actions. The Secretary of State must make sure consular officers know and follow this rule and get proper training and support. Officers at the United States Embassy in Beijing and at U.S. consulates in the People’s Republic of China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the Macau Special Administrative Region must get special training. The U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong must keep a list of people known to have been charged, detained, or convicted by Hong Kong or China for actions tied to rights named in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to help check visa applications. Relevant U.S. government websites must be updated. The Secretary of State must also tell other democratic countries—especially those that get many Hong Kong applicants—about this policy and encourage them to do the same to protect nonviolent protesters from visa discrimination.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §5726

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Visa eligibility for certain Hong Kong students

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, applications for visas to enter, study, or work in the United States, which are submitted by otherwise qualified applicants who resided in Hong Kong in 2014 and later, may not be denied primarily on the basis of the applicant’s subjection to politically-motivated arrest, detention, or other adverse government action.

(b)Implementation

The Secretary of State shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that consular officers are aware of the policy described in subsection (a) and receive appropriate training and support to ensure that the policy is carried out so that affected individuals do not face discrimination or unnecessary delay in the processing of their visa applications, including—

(1)providing specialized training for all consular officers posted to the United States Embassy in Beijing or to any United States consulate in the People’s Republic of China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, or the Macau Special Administrative Region;

(2)instructing the United States Consulate in Hong Kong to maintain an active list of individuals who are known to have been formally charged, detained, or convicted by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, or intermediaries of such governments, based on politically-motivated considerations related to their exercise of rights enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, done at Paris December 10, 1948, or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, done at New York December 19, 1966, to facilitate the cross-checking of visa applications for Hong Kong residents; and

(3)updating any relevant United States Government websites with information on the policy described in subsection (a).

(c)Cooperation with like-minded countries

The Secretary of State shall contact appropriate representatives of other democratic countries, particularly those who receive a large number of applicants for student and employment visas from Hong Kong—

(1)to inform them of the United States policy regarding arrests for participation in nonviolent protests in Hong Kong; and

(2)to encourage them to take similar steps to ensure the rights of nonviolent protesters are protected from discrimination due to the actions of the Government of Hong Kong and of the Government of the People’s Republic of China.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 5726

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110