Exclusive | Penniless Hong Kong BN(O) visa holders in Britain could be given financial aid under modified immigration policy
- Home Office will adjust immigration rules, allowing a person on a BN(O) visa to apply for a change of conditions to gain access to public funds
- It will also allow access to funds if a BN(O) holder can provide ‘compelling’ reasons that a child is at risk due to a parent earning very low income
The Home Office in London on Thursday announced the adjustment to immigration rules, under which it would allow a person living in Britain on a BN(O) visa who “later becomes destitute or is at imminent risk of destitution” to apply for a change of conditions to gain access to public funds.
It would also allow access to public funds if a BN(O) holder could provide “compelling” reasons that a child was at risk due to a parent earning a “very low income” or “facing exceptional financial circumstances relating to a very low income”, the policy said.
“It is a generous provision that doesn’t happen in the majority of visa categories,” immigration specialist Antonia Grant of law firm Bowers Law said.
For most visa categories under immigration rules, foreign nationals were unable to access public funds unless they held permanent residence, added Grant, a Hong Kong and British dual-qualified lawyer.