US EditionUK expands visa route for Hong Kongers after Jimmy Lai sentencing
The UK estimates 26,000 people from Hong Kong will arrive over five years under the visa expansion responding to Jimmy Lai's 20-year sentence and rights concerns.
- On Feb 9, Britain expanded its visa route for those moving from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom after Jimmy Lai, 78-year-old pro-democracy campaigner and British citizen, received a 20-year jail sentence.
- Responding to the sentence, the government said Britain says the deterioration of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong is continuing, and it will engage further with the Chinese government on Lai's case.
- Under the plan, children who held British National status at the 1997 handover can apply independently; applicants must meet suitability and eligibility requirements and pay application fees and the immigration health surcharge.
- The British government estimates 26,000 arrivals over the next five years and notes more than 170,000 have moved since 2021.
- Framing the decision as a moral commitment, Britain said the visa expansion honours the UK's moral commitment to the people of Hong Kong, following Jimmy Lai's 20-year sentence.
13 Articles
13 Articles
UK Expands Hong Kong Visa Scheme After Jimmy Lai Sentencing
The UK on Feb. 9 announced it was expanding a visa scheme to allow tens of thousands more people to move from Hong Kong to the UK, following the sentencing of pro-democracy activist and British citizen Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong. The UK Home Office said in a statement that adult children of British National (Overseas), or BN(O), status holders who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover from Britain to China can now apply for the visa…
UK expands visa route for Hong Kongers after Jimmy Lai sentencing
Britain said it was expanding its visa route for those who want to move from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom, in reaction to the sentencing of Jimmy Lai, the Asian city's most vocal China critic, to 20 years in jail.
UK Expands BN(O) Visa as Hong Kong Families Gain More Path
Thousands more people from Hong Kong will now have the chance to build new lives in Britain, as the UK government expands the British National (Overseas) visa route in a move that strengthens safe, legal migration and keeps families together. Under the changes, adult children of BN(O) status holders who were under the age of 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to China will be allowed to apply independently, closing a long-criticised gap…
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