Britain waives payment rule so dying man in Hong Kong can get baby a passport
Requirement for payment by credit card waived for Hong Kong resident and baby son
A dying Hong Kong-based Briton has received good news after a six-month tussle with British authorities over a requirement that he use a credit card to renew his passport and get one for his infant son.
Chris Rose, 47, who does not have a credit card, heard on Friday, after inquiries by the South China Morning Post, that the requirement had been waived on compassionate grounds.
Rose, who has been told his heart disease is terminal, had already given up on renewing his own passport because of long processing delays that meant he might die before receiving it.
But he wanted one for his 18-month-old son so that after he died the boy could visit his grandparents in Britain.
"I feel relief because as a father [a passport] is one of my most important duties," the English teacher, who has been in Hong Kong for 20 years, said after hearing the news.
He previously offered to pay the passport fee in euros or sterling and is now waiting for details of how he can pay.