WHILE SOME REGARD THE UK’S OFFER AS HONORABLE, OTHERS SEE IT AS MISGUIDED INTERFERENCE

Karimi & Associates Law Firm presents according to the International Bar Association:

 

The United Kingdom has created a new visa pathway scheme for Hong Kong residents with a British National (Overseas) passport (BNO passport), which opened in January.

Hong Kong residents are now able to apply for a new visa offering them an opportunity to become British citizens after Beijing imposed a national security law in the Asian financial hub last year.

The pathway scheme can be used as a means of bringing talented immigrants to the UK to make up for any lost capacity caused by Brexit. According to The UK government prediction, 300,000 people will use the new visa route in the first five years of the scheme.

Hong Kong’s professional and business classes have not welcomed the new pathway scheme globally and see the pathway initiative as drawing attention to the tensions in the jurisdiction.

This opportunity allows these BNO citizens and their close family to apply for two durations of five years to live and work in the UK. After the first five years, they can apply for indefinite leave to remain, which means an individual can live and work without reapplying for a visa. And after one year of this status, individuals will be able to apply for British citizenship.