Since the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL) was implemented in 2020, a wave of emigration of Hong Kong residents has occurred. At the end of June 2022, the UK had granted BNO visas to more than 130,000 Hong Kong citizens. The Islington Chinese Association (ICA) in London recently released a survey on Hong Kong people’s adaptation to life in the UK. The team adopted a qualitative research approach that showed most people have found jobs, their children are in school, are well-behaved, and interested in learning. However, the parents found that their children were not learning to write Traditional Chinese characters or speak Cantonese, as most schools in the UK teach Simplified Chinese characters and Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua).
The British government launched the “5+1” BNO visa programme on Jan. 31, 2021, allowing Hong Kong people and their families who hold or used to hold BNO passports to apply to move to the UK to work and live. After five years of residence they will have the “indefinite leave to remain” status and can apply for British citizenship after another year. According to figures from the UK Home Office, as of June 30 this year, 140,500 applications were received, of which 133,124 were approved.
