Hong Kong residents now eligible for special UK visa

The visa, which is open to holders of a British National (Overseas) passport and their immediate dependents, will offer a fast track to UK citizenship. This scheme allows Hong Kong residents to come to the UK, with some 300,000 people expected to apply.

But the Chinese foreign ministry said it would no longer recognise the BNO passport as a travel document.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "I am immensely proud that we have brought in this new route for Hong Kong BNOs to live, work and make their home in our country. 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."

Source: BBC #Jan30

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55847572

#BNOVisa #British #BNO #Hongkong

U.K. Opens Its Doors to Five Million Hong Kong Residents, Starting Sunday

After protests and political upheaval prompted China to impose a tough new security law on Hong Kong last year, Key Yeung uprooted her family and left for England. She settled in the English city of Lincoln with her husband and younger daughter.

British National Overseas passports holders can move with their families to the U.K. on five-year visas. After that period, they can apply for British citizenship. Previously these passport holders could only get six-month British visas.

Britain has opened its doors to as many as five million residents of its former colony. The U.K. Home Office estimates around 300,000 people will move from Hong Kong to Britain in the next five years.

Source: WSJ #Jan29

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-targets-u-k-s-hong-kong-passports-over-citizenship-plan-11611917418

#BNOVisa #HongKongBritish #HongKonger #HongKong

The Hong Kong government fully cooperates with the CCP to derecognise British National (Overseas) Passports as the countermeasures to the British government's policies on BNO visa announced earlier.

#BNOvisa #BritishNationalOverseas #GoHKgraphics

Thousands in Hong Kong sign up to BNO visa scheme for UK citizenship

The new immigration route for British National Overseas (BNO) citizens from Hong Kong opened for applications on January 31. 5.4 million Hongkongers could ultimately be eligible for British citizenship under this scheme.

The UK government expects about 300,000 people to come to the UK under this scheme in the first five years.

Almost 5,000 Hongkongers have already applied for the UK’s visa route a fortnight after the scheme opened.

Source: The Times #Feb18

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/thousands-in-hong-kong-sign-up-to-bno-visa-scheme-for-uk-citizenship-jbgffszbn

#BNOVisa #HonKong #UK #lifeBoat

Nearly 5,000 Hong Kong citizens sign up for new U.K. visa, report says

According to the source, The Times, about half of the 5,000 applicants received were from Hong Kongers who were already in Britain.

Britain says it is fulfilling a historical and moral commitment to Hong Kong’s people after National Security law was enacted by Beijing.

The UK government forecasted that the new visa could attract more than 300,000 people and their dependents to Britain.

Source: Japan Times #Feb18

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/02/18/asia-pacific/hong-kong-uk-visa-applicants/

#UK #Britain #BNOVisa #HongKong #LifeBoatScheme

#HKProtest #Exile
2 Years After PolyU Siege, 19-year-old HongKongers in Exile: "I Earnestly Want to Return to Hong Kong"

Read Part 1:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/31791

Read Part 2:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/31807

Continue with Part 3:
People inside the city want to escape; people outside want to return

#HongKongWatch, a UK #HumanRights organisation, estimates that there are 120 political asylum seekers from HK at the moment and 200 to 300 HKers with a temporary or expired tourist visa in the UK.

Some UK #MPs suggested amending BNO application terms and conditions that a Hker could have the right to stay in the UK if one of the parents qualified for a #BNOvisa, including HK young people born after 1997.

The amendment bill is an aid for people like Ivan, whose parents do not want to leave for the UK and need to be political asylums.

The total amount of these people are estimated to be 100 thousand, expanding HKer groups in the UK. However, the #parliament rejects the decision after a 2-days discussion on Dec 8 due to the scale of expansion.

While people in the city try to get out very hard, people outside the city earnestly want to get back. Ivan hopes to see HKers can have shumai (a traditional Cantonese dim sum) at home together.

"I really want to return to Hong Kong"

Ivan sees Hong Kong as his home even though he is in the UK now. When he saw people giving applause welcoming the soldiers on Remembrance Day, he wished to have another Liberation Day for Hong Kong, the day when he could go back to Hong Kong.

He expressed, "I would like to say to everyone one day: let's return to HK. An ethnic group has nothing wrong to go back to their origin. Hong Kong was colonised by the UK and is colonised by the #CCP. I feel very unwilling as HKers have fought for a long term but can't make any decision for themselves. If Hong Kong is liberated one day, do still I have a chance to travel, or am I "lying in a box covered by a blanket"?"

No one can predict when it will be, but Ivan will continue to embrace this hope to survive in a foreign country.

#LOTR

Source: RFA #Nov17
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/htm/hk-polyu-11172021060537.html