BN(O) visa to allow staggered arrivals of successful family applicants, as Boris Johnson says scheme is about Britain standing up for Hong Kong

Name: BN(O) passport holders flee Hong Kong for new life in the UK, fearing Beijing’s tightening control
Uploaded: 2021-01-29T00:01:15.000Z
Duration: 6 min 15 s
Description: BN(O) passport holders flee Hong Kong for new life in the UK, fearing Beijing’s tightening control

New visa will allow everyone with BN(O) status and their dependants to stay in Britain for up to five years and to apply for citizenship after six years

Hongkongers lodging their applications between January 31 and February 22 will have to make an online appointment to submit fingerprints at North Point visa centre

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A BN(O) passport is held up during a protest at the IFC shopping centre in Central last year. Photo: Winson Wong

Phila Siu

Published: 8:01am, 29 Jan 2021Updated: 11:31pm, 29 Jan 2021

The new British National (Overseas) visa will allow successful family applicants to stagger their arrivals so one parent can remain in Hong Kong to continue earning an income while the other goes over with their dependants.

Such details of the much-anticipated scheme emerged as the British Home Office announced on Friday morning that applications would open online at 5pm on Sunday.

Britain decided to introduce the new visa last July as a response to Beijing’s imposition of a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong. Some 5.4 million people in its former colony are eligible for British citizenship after six years of living there using the special visa.

“I am immensely proud that we have brought in this new route for Hong Kong BN(O)s to live, work and make their home in our country,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.

“In doing so we have honoured our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong, and we have stood up for freedom and autonomy – values both the UK and Hong Kong hold dear.”

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BN(O) passport holders flee Hong Kong for new life in the UK, fearing Beijing’s tightening control

Setting out the process for the new visas on Friday, the Home Office said Hongkongers lodging their applications between January 31 and February 22 would have to make an online appointment to submit fingerprints at its North Point visa centre.