Almost 5,000 Hongkongers have already applied for the UK’s visa route a fortnight after the scheme opened, The Times has learnt.
The new immigration route for British National Overseas (BNO) citizens from Hong Kong opened for applications on January 31. It offers up to 5.4 million Hongkongers a five-year visa and a path to full British citizenship.
The government has said it expects about 300,000 people to use the scheme in its first five years, adding a number the size of Coventry to the country’s population.
Government sources said that about half of the 5,000 applications received were from Hongkongers who were already in Britain having been granted Leave Outside the Rules, which offered temporary settlement for those fleeing China’s security crackdown while waiting
