Hong Kong residents will have a brand-new, hassle-free gateway to the Caucasus from today after Baku confirmed a unilateral visa waiver for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport holders.
Under the pilot scheme, which runs from 2 February 2026 to 2 February 2027, holders of an HKSAR passport may enter Azerbaijan up to three times, with each stay capped at 30 days. The Hong Kong Immigration Department said it received formal diplomatic notification on 30 January and has updated its travel advisories accordingly. The arrangement brings to 175 the number of jurisdictions that now offer visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to Hong Kong travellers, reinforcing the SAR passport’s standing in the Henley Passport Index.
Travellers who still need assistance with e-visa applications for accompanying non-HKSAR passport holders, or who want up-to-date guidance on entry rules, can tap VisaHQ’s Hong Kong portal (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/). The platform streamlines paperwork, offers real-time status tracking and provides expert support for Azerbaijan and more than 200 other destinations, ensuring mixed-nationality groups plan their journeys smoothly and compliantly.
The timing is significant for corporates and investors. Azerbaijan sits on the so-called Middle Corridor of China’s Belt-and-Road land bridge linking Central Asia with Europe and hosts the new Alat Free Economic Zone near the Caspian Sea. Hong Kong engineering consultancies, logistics providers and project-finance specialists say the waiver will slash lead times for due-diligence trips and short-rotation assignments, which previously required an e-visa costing about US$25 and up to three working days to process. Travel agencies have already reported inquiries about chartering seasonal direct flights or packaging rail-air itineraries via Tbilisi and Istanbul to capitalise on the easier market access.
For leisure travellers, the move cracks open an emerging destination known for its mud volcanoes, medieval Silk-Road cities and dramatic mix of modern architecture and ancient heritage in Baku. Industry insiders expect a surge in bespoke small-group tours combining Azerbaijan with neighbouring Georgia or Türkiye, segments popular with Hong Kong’s affluent millennial professionals. Airlines are watching demand closely; any sustained uptick could encourage Cathay Pacific or its low-cost affiliate HK Express to explore codeshares beyond Doha or Dubai.
Officials in both territories framed the agreement as a win-win for tourism and people-to-people connectivity. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the decision “signals our commitment to deepening ties with the Asia-Pacific”, while a Hong Kong government spokesman called it “a tangible Belt-and-Road dividend that opens opportunities for trade, culture and investment.” Business chambers have urged companies to review travel-policy handbooks immediately so that staff can leverage the waiver on short notice.
