From 2014 Hong Kong passport holders can apply to the UK Youth Mobility Scheme, allowing successful applicants to stay in the UK for up to two years for leisure, work or study. The scheme however will be limited to 1,000 successful applicants per year.

The availability of this scheme may potentially have benefits for some students studying in the U.K. For example, pharmacy graduates who complete degrees in the UK are required by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Hong Kong to complete one year of work experience and be professionally qualified in the country where they completed their study, before they are eligible to obtain professional qualification in Hong Kong. The Youth Mobility Scheme may provide a visa category that allows graduates to stay and gain work experience in the UK for the required period of time to meet these requirements. Likewise this may also provide an avenue for graduates of other subject areas to complete an internship in the UK before permanently returning to Hong Kong.

The scheme does have some limitations, however. Besides the limit of 1,000, applicants must be in Hong Kong when they apply, and can only do so during a specified registration period, and then need to wait for the announcement of results.