Migration agents in Hong Kong say they have had a rush of inquiries from people seeking to access the new visa scheme launched by the UK government on Sunday, despite fears their applications will be monitored.
Britain’s Home Office is expecting about 300,000 people to exercise a newly offered right to move to Britain and eventually seek citizenship in the next five years. The scheme was announced in July in response to the worsening security situation in Hong Kong, as the Chinese government tightens its control over the city with a draconian national security law.
Online applications for the scheme – which is open to about 5 million Hongkongers who have a British national overseas (BNO) passport, or are their dependants – opened on Sunday. The Guardian spoke to several Hong Kong migration agencies who would not give figures but reported high levels of interest in the BNO scheme, as well as other pathways to the UK.
Anecdotally, the agencies said clients were prompted by the deteriorating situation in Hong Kong – regardless of their own political views – specifically the violence of 2019 and the introduction of the national security law. Clients also cited a desire to have children educated in Britain because they felt Hong Kong’s school system was in decline, or the BNO scheme making possible a long-held wish to migrate which was previously legally or financially impossible.
“The numbers have been increasing the last few months since the government announced the BNO visa scheme,” said an employee at Paul Bernadou & Co immigration, who said they received about 50 inquiries last week. “Before that the only channel for migrating was other visas like entrepreneur and that criteria is hard to fulfil.”
One Hong Kong resident, who was assisting others with migration information and did not want to be named for fear of repercussions, said people were rushing to apply because they feared the implementation of long-rumoured exit bans.
“For some the BNO is the only choice because the threshold is very low,” said Janine Miu, the managing director of UK Immigration Specialist.
“We have others who are qualified for other visas [such as entrepreneurial visas] and they know the BNO is not their only option … they’re worried about if they do [get a BNO visa] and they want to come back to Hong Kong there will be restrictions on them,” said Miu.
“The reality is that people are detail-minded and they don’t know what will happen in coming years and they are looking at all the options.”
The BNO was not necessarily the first choice for those who had other pathways and who were concerned that a BNO visa could result in them being targeted or disadvantaged by Hong Kong and Chinese authorities in the future. Last week, China officially stopped recognising BNO passports and “reserved the right to take further actions”, a government spokesman said.
Miu said there was also hesitancy among those who intend to apply for the BNO visa because the online application requires they present to the visa office with their passport to complete the process and receive their visa. She said about half of her clients were waiting for a mobile app expected to launch later this month that does not require an in-person presentation or a physical visa in their passport.
“Some of our clients have expressed very clearly they don’t want a sticker on their passport because it will lead to uncertainty in the future,” said Miu.
“They’re nervous people will know they applied for the visa.”