According to a source quoted by Apple Daily, the BNO passport not only facilitates Hong Kong people to move to the UK, but also allows the so-called “astronaut program”, i.e., families of Hong Kong people who move to the UK, the parents can continue to stay in Hong Kong for the sake of living, while the children stay in the UK to study or other development, and the parents fly back and forth between Hong Kong and the UK on time, so called the astronaut program, similar to the Canadian immigration program that was popular in Hong Kong, where the mother and children stay in Canada and sit in “immigration jail”, while the father needs to fly back and forth on time, as if he were an astronaut.
It was reported that the U.K. allows the above-mentioned “astronaut program” to break the U.K. immigration policy requirement that applicants and their dependents must move to the U.K. together, which allows one parent to remain in Hong Kong to work, while the children stay in the U.K. to study, and eventually the family can obtain permanent residence.
The “5+1” BNO scheme will officially accept applications from Hong Kong people on next month 31, and a large number of Hong Kong people have renewed their BNOs that have expired for many years with the British Passport Office. The so-called “5+1” plan is to obtain permanent residency after five years of residence in the U.K. The BNO passport is an overseas territory passport issued by the U.K. to Hong Kong people, with which Hong Kong people can theoretically obtain visa-free entry into the U.K., but not the right of abode in the U.K. The BNO passport is issued to Hong Kong people by the U.K. Government.
Bloomberg News obtained the latest data from the British government that in October this year alone, the UK has issued 60,000 renewed BNO passports to Hong Kong people, a record high for one month.
In the four months from July to October, the UK issued more than 160,000 BNOs to Hong Kong people, and in October, 60,000 BNOs were issued in one go, which is more than 50% higher than the same month last year. It can be seen that Hong Kong people have been “buying insurance and planning for future” to prepare for immigration at any time. This record-breaking number is clearly a vote of no confidence in the National Security Law and the future of Hong Kong.
Bloomberg’s figures further reveal that before the anti-amendment movement broke out last year, the UK had only granted BNO renewal to more than 2,000 people per month, but after the movement broke out in June, the number of BNO renewals granted by the British side soared, starting to exceed 10,000 in August last year, and 40,000 renewals were granted in October last year alone.
The former chairwoman of the Democratic Party, Emily Lau, who has been asking the UK to fulfill its responsibilities to the Hong Kong people under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, told Apple Daily that the above figures reflect that many people are also very frightened about the situation in Hong Kong, so they flocked to renew their BNOs after the passage of the National Security Law and as soon as the UK announced its plans for BNOs to stay in the UK.
Emily Lau, who frequently liaises with the British Consulate, said that she had conveyed to the British Consul Hong Kong people’s worries about BNOs, including the fact that many Hong Kong people want to “stay in Hong Kong to work and their children to stay in the UK”, but the UK immigration policy does not allow the so-called “astronaut program”, which requires applicants and their dependents to move to the UK together in order to obtain permanent residency.
However, she said, after consideration, the UK has decided to allow BNOs to stay in Hong Kong to continue to work, and then the children can receive education in the UK, the details of which will be announced before applications are accepted. Liu also said that her understanding is that if the parents eventually decide to stay in Hong Kong and give up their British citizenship, that is fine, but this arrangement will not affect the children’s ability to obtain permanent residence in the UK.
Another source quoted by Apple Daily also confirmed that the BNO allows “astronaut program”, because the UK knows that many Hong Kong people can hardly give up their jobs in Hong Kong, but they want to arrange for their children to study in the UK, so for BNO holders to immigrate with “astronaut program”. UK. The news also pointed out that the BNO’s plan to stay in the U.K. will start accepting applications at the end of next month, and you can apply online. The British Consulate has not yet responded to media inquiries.
The children will continue to stay in the UK, but if the BNO applicant wants to obtain permanent residence, it is not yet known when they will need to return to the UK and for how long, but the principle is that they cannot leave the UK for more than 180 days in each of the first to fifth years.
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