London making it easier for Hongkongers to apply for visas through BN(O) scheme
- New guidelines mean husbands, wives and children can now apply separately
- Rules changed so that children born during process and new partners of BN(O) passport holders also eligible
The concessions also allow children born while their parents are in the middle of the application process to be considered, and if a BN(O) status holder meets a new partner after being granted permission to live in the UK, that person would also be allowed to stay.
The London government issued a new set of guidelines for its Home Office staff last Thursday, advising caseworkers on how to consider applications for entry clearance and permission to stay on the Hong Kong BN(O) visa route.
“It is permissible for the BN(O) status holder’s spouse or partner and dependent child under 18 to apply for the Hong Kong BN(O) route separately from the lead applicant,” the updated guidelines state.
“Some applicants may have staggered their applications so that one parent moves to the UK first to arrange affairs before the other parent and children join them; this would also be permissible under this concession.”
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Britain introduced the new visa last July in response to Beijing’s imposition of a national security law on its former colony, an act London described as a breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the agreement that paved the way for Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997.