Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what review his Department is undertaking of asylum applications by people from Hong Kong who have been involved in pro-democracy campaigns; and what his planned timescale is for that review.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it with half a million individuals on humanitarian routes since 2015. All asylum claims admitted to the UK asylum system receive careful consideration. We will not remove anyone to their own, or any other country, where they would face persecution or serious harm.
Asylum decision makers carefully consider each claimant’s protection needs by assessing all the evidence provided by the claimant in light of published country information guidance. They receive extensive training on considering asylum claims and must follow published Home Office policy guidance. This includes any claims received from people from Hong Kong.
Those from Hong Kong may also be eligible for the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route which was launched following China’s imposition of the National Security Law in Hong Kong. To be eligible for the route, applicants must have BN(O) status, or be the eligible family member of someone with BN(O) status.
The Home Office is currently not undertaking a specific review into asylum applications by people from Hong Kong who have been involved in pro-democracy campaigns.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the number of asylum seekers from Hong Kong who have switched to British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) visa routes, and the way in which such applications have been handled, since they decided to allow adult children of BN(O) status holders to apply independently of their parent.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Those who apply to the British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route from overseas should not travel to the UK until they have received a decision on their application. Most individuals who hold a BN(O) or Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport will be able to apply to the BN(O) route without needing to attend a visa application centre by using the UK Chip Checker smartphone application.
In most cases, a person with a pending asylum claim can make an application to the BN(O) route, but all applications will need to meet the relevant requirements to be granted, including the suitability requirements. The Home Office is aware of the issues some individuals have faced when switching into the BN(O) route since it was amended to allow adult children of BN(O) status holders who were born after the handover of Hong Kong to apply independently of their parent, and we are looking into these cases.
Recent published data shows that in Quarter 2 of 2023, 98.58% of leave to enter cases and 98.35% of leave to remain cases classed as straightforward were decided within the service standard of 12 weeks.
This can be found at the following link: Visas and citizenship data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Home Office does not currently hold any publishable data on the longest outstanding case.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the position of British National (Overseas) visa applicants who remain in Hong Kong while their application is considered.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Those who apply to the British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route from overseas should not travel to the UK until they have received a decision on their application. Most individuals who hold a BN(O) or Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport will be able to apply to the BN(O) route without needing to attend a visa application centre by using the UK Chip Checker smartphone application.
In most cases, a person with a pending asylum claim can make an application to the BN(O) route, but all applications will need to meet the relevant requirements to be granted, including the suitability requirements. The Home Office is aware of the issues some individuals have faced when switching into the BN(O) route since it was amended to allow adult children of BN(O) status holders who were born after the handover of Hong Kong to apply independently of their parent, and we are looking into these cases.
Recent published data shows that in Quarter 2 of 2023, 98.58% of leave to enter cases and 98.35% of leave to remain cases classed as straightforward were decided within the service standard of 12 weeks.
This can be found at the following link: Visas and citizenship data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Home Office does not currently hold any publishable data on the longest outstanding case.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how long it takes on average to process a British National (Overseas) visa application and what is the longest outstanding application awaiting assessment.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Those who apply to the British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route from overseas should not travel to the UK until they have received a decision on their application. Most individuals who hold a BN(O) or Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport will be able to apply to the BN(O) route without needing to attend a visa application centre by using the UK Chip Checker smartphone application.
In most cases, a person with a pending asylum claim can make an application to the BN(O) route, but all applications will need to meet the relevant requirements to be granted, including the suitability requirements. The Home Office is aware of the issues some individuals have faced when switching into the BN(O) route since it was amended to allow adult children of BN(O) status holders who were born after the handover of Hong Kong to apply independently of their parent, and we are looking into these cases.
Recent published data shows that in Quarter 2 of 2023, 98.58% of leave to enter cases and 98.35% of leave to remain cases classed as straightforward were decided within the service standard of 12 weeks.
This can be found at the following link: Visas and citizenship data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Home Office does not currently hold any publishable data on the longest outstanding case.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberafan Maesteg)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people from Hong Kong with a pending asylum claim are allowed to transfer onto the British National (Overseas) visa scheme if they have become eligible since its expansion on 30 November 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
In most cases, a person with a pending asylum claim can make an application to the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route. However, all applications need to meet the relevant requirements to be granted, including the suitability requirements.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, given the recent arrest warrants and bounties for exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, what plans they have to expedite the asylum applications of former Hong Kong elected district councillors.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it. All asylum claims are considered on a case-by-case basis in line with published policy including those raised by Hong Kong nationals.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will expedite the asylum applications of (a) former Hong Kong elected district councillors and (b) pro-democracy party leadership figures in the context of recent arrest warrants and bounties for exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activists.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it. All asylum claims are considered on a case-by-case basis in line with published policy including those raised by Hong Kong nationals.
Individuals from Hong Kong may also be able to apply for the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route which reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status before Hong Kong’s handover to China. To be eligible, applicants must have BN(O) status, or be the eligible family member of someone with BN(O) status.
In November 2022, the BN(O) route was expanded to allow adult children of BN(O) status holders, aged 18 or over and who were born on or after 1 July 1997 to apply to the route independently. As of 31 March 2023, a total of 166,420 applications to the BN(O) route have been granted since its introduction.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department is offering to (a) former Hong Kong elected district councillors and (b) pro-democracy party leadership figures who have been waiting for a decision on an asylum application.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it. All asylum claims are considered on a case-by-case basis in line with published policy including those raised by Hong Kong nationals.
Individuals from Hong Kong may also be able to apply for the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route which reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status before Hong Kong’s handover to China. To be eligible, applicants must have BN(O) status, or be the eligible family member of someone with BN(O) status.
In November 2022, the BN(O) route was expanded to allow adult children of BN(O) status holders, aged 18 or over and who were born on or after 1 July 1997 to apply to the route independently. As of 31 March 2023, a total of 166,420 applications to the BN(O) route have been granted since its introduction.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Hong Kong citizens have entered the UK since the introduction of that territory's National Security Law (1) using the British National (Overseas) route, and (2) as asylum seekers; and in each case, what was the age profile in terms of (a) absolute number, and (b) relative percentage, for each age cohort of five years.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes data on asylum and visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications and initial decisions by nationality and age group can be found in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 respectively of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. Please note that data relates to asylum applications and initial decisions and does not represent arrivals to the UK.
As at the end of March 2023 113,500 individuals have arrived in the UK using an out of country BN(O) visa. At this time we are unable to break down this figure by age. Additionally, data on BN(O) route visa applications and outcomes can be found in tables Vis_D01 and Vis_D02 respectively of the ‘managed migration datasets’.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relate to the year ending March 2023.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the asylum processing system for Hong Kong citizens.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it. There have been a total of 139,144 grants of out of country BN(O) visas and a total of 27,276 grants of in country BN(O) visas since its introduction on 31 January 2021 up to the end of March 2023.
All asylum claims are considered on a case-by-case basis in line with published policy including those raised by Hong Kong nationals.