Letter of the Law: Denial of same-sex-spouse dependant visas hurts both couples and Hong Kong
Court dismissal of a discrimination case involving a lesbian couple brings out the urgent need for legislation on sexual orientation
By Dr Suen Yiu-tung
Hong Kong is known to pride itself as “Asia’s world city”, an international hub that welcomes all talented people from overseas.
However, the High Court judgment that ruled against QT on March 11, 2016 seems to suggest that if that person happens to be in a same-sex relationship, he or she will not be welcome in Hong Kong.
Two lesbian women, QT and SS, are a couple in a legally recognised civil partnership in Britain. While SS was offered a job in Hong Kong and was subsequently granted a work visa, QT’s application for a dependant visa was rejected. She was instead only granted a tourist visa. She therefore has no right to work, has to leave the city every six months and faces uncertainty every time she returns to Hong Kong that her visa may not be renewed.
QT mounted a judicial review against the Immigration Department, claiming that the rejection by the Immigration Department was discriminatory on the ground of her sexual orientation and therefore unconstitutional. The High Court ruled against QT.
QT and SS are not alone in facing visa issues in coming to Hong Kong. In the Study on Legislation against Discrimination on the Grounds of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission, I interviewed many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, including same-sex couples who had entered into legally recognised relationships in other jurisdictions either in the form of civil partnerships or same-sex marriages and moved to Hong Kong.
In such same-sex relationships, when one person was granted a work visa to move to Hong Kong, the person’s legal partner is always refused a dependant visa.