Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to offer a route to settlement for Hong Kong people, who, primarily through having been born after the 1997 handover, are not British National (Overseas) (BNO) status holders and are ineligible for the BNO visa.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Hong Kong BN(O) route is for those with BN(O) status and their eligible family members including adult children who were born after 1 July 1997 and who live with their parents. We do not currently have any plans to change these requirements.
Those not eligible for the BN(O) route can consider other UK immigration routes. For instance, individuals from Hong Kong can apply under the terms of the UK’s new Points Based System, which will enable them to come to the UK in a wider range of professions than in the past.
There is also the existing youth mobility scheme which is open to those aged between 18 and 30 and offers a two-year grant of leave in the UK. There are 1,000 places currently available each year for people from Hong Kong.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to support BN(O) holders’ children who cannot renew their passports through the Chinese embassy due to safety concerns.
Answered by Kevin Foster
To apply for the Hong Kong BN(O) route, applicants must have a valid passport or other travel document which shows their identity and nationality.
Where applicants do not have a valid passport, they will need to submit an alternative, valid travel document which can be used to prove their identity and nationality. This means a document, other than a passport, which has been issued by the government of the UK or another state and which enables travel from one country to another, for example, a valid national identity card.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a separate lifeboat scheme, mirroring Canadian-Australian arrangements, for 18-23 year old non-BN(O)s if they cannot apply for the BN(O) visa with their families.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Hong Kong BN(O) route is for those with BN(O) status and their eligible family members including adult children who were born after 1 July 1997 and who live with their parents. We do not currently have any plans to change these requirements.
Those not eligible for the BN(O) route can consider other UK immigration routes. For instance, individuals from Hong Kong can apply under the terms of the UK’s new Points Based System, which will enable them to come to the UK in a wider range of professions and at a lower general salary threshold than in the past. There is also the existing youth mobility scheme which is open to those aged between 18 and 30 and offers a two-year grant of leave in the UK. There are 1,000 places currently available each year.
Those applying for the route do not need to travel to the UK on their BN(O) passport but will need another valid travel document in order to travel. This is set out on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/british-national-overseas-bno-visa
The UK will continue to recognise valid BN(O) passports as valid travel and identity documents.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to (a) expand and (b) clarify the BN(O) scheme to ensure that people relying on their BN(O) passports as their travel documents are able to use those documents when travelling (i) internationally and (ii) to the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Hong Kong BN(O) route is for those with BN(O) status and their eligible family members including adult children who were born after 1 July 1997 and who live with their parents. We do not currently have any plans to change these requirements.
Those not eligible for the BN(O) route can consider other UK immigration routes. For instance, individuals from Hong Kong can apply under the terms of the UK’s new Points Based System, which will enable them to come to the UK in a wider range of professions and at a lower general salary threshold than in the past. There is also the existing youth mobility scheme which is open to those aged between 18 and 30 and offers a two-year grant of leave in the UK. There are 1,000 places currently available each year.
Those applying for the route do not need to travel to the UK on their BN(O) passport but will need another valid travel document in order to travel. This is set out on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/british-national-overseas-bno-visa
The UK will continue to recognise valid BN(O) passports as valid travel and identity documents.
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) people, and (2) children, are included in the 27,000 British Nationals (Overseas) applications referred to in their press release of 8 April, National welcome for Hong Kong arrivals.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The new Hong Kong BN(O) route was launched on 31 January 2021, with the new digital application launching on 23 February.
As of 19 March 2021, approximately 27,000 BN(O) status holders and their family members have applied for the route.
Further breakdown of the application numbers and updated figures will be published as part of the the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’, the next update is due for publication on 27 May 2021 and will be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to extend the eligibility of the Hong Kong British National Overseas visa scheme to pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong who were born after 1997.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O) route opens for applications from 31 January 2021.
We recognise children of BN(O) status holders born on or after 1 July 1997 may not have had the opportunity to be registered as BN(O) status holders. We do not wish to split family units and therefore the children of a BN(O) status holder who fall into this category who form part of the same household will be able to apply for this route with their BN(O) parent. We do not currently have any plans to change these requirements.
Individuals born after 1 July 1997, who no longer live with their BN(O) parents, can consider the other UK immigration routes available, these include the Student, Family and Skilled Worker routes. The new Skilled Worker route enables individuals to come to the UK in a much wider range of roles and at a lower general salary threshold than under the previous visa it replaced.
There is also our existing youth mobility scheme with Hong Kong which is open to those aged between 18 and 30 and offers a two-year grant of leave in the UK. There are 1000 places currently available each year.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to facilitate access to education for the children of people entering the UK under the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa scheme; what assessment they have made of (1) the scale of demand for school places for these children, and (2) where such demand will arise; and what discussions they have had with (a) Local Education Authorities, and (b) Regional Schools Commissioners, about ensuring that plans are in place to meet this demand.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The government’s estimate of the number of British National (Overseas) citizens that may migrate to the UK was set out in an Impact Assessment published on 22 October, available here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1147/impacts/2020/70. The dependants of British National (Overseas) citizens from Hong Kong choosing to settle in the UK have a right to attend school in the UK. Local authorities hold the statutory duty to provide sufficient school places.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have written to all local authorities in England to update them on the new immigration route for BN(O) citizens and will be communicating further with those areas which may see higher numbers arriving to support their planning.
The department is fully involved in planning and communications with local authorities, including Regional Schools Commissioners. We are using data from the 2020 Spring School Census and the 2011 National Census to inform planning and are working with Home Office to monitor BN(O) and BN(O) dependant arrivals.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to allow the admission of children to schools in the UK of British Nationals (Overseas) passport holders from Hong Kong in advance of the launch of the scheme for those passport holders in 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
British Nationals (Overseas) ('BN(O)s') who are in the UK in advance of the new Hong Kong BN(O) route being launched in January 2021 are entitled to access a school place for their children. BN(O)s are able to apply for ‘leave outside the rules’ prior to the new route - which will give them and their family members access to work and study whilst in the UK - becoming available. This information is clearly set out on this website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/british-nationals-overseas-in-hong-kong.
Dependent children of BN(O)s who are in the UK will also be entitled to access a school place under the new route once it is launched in January 2021.
BN(O)s may not be aware of the processes and timescales involved in applying for an English school before they move to the UK. They can find the information they need on this website: https://www.gov.uk/schools-admissions.
This website also provides links across to information on the school admission systems in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, in case they are applying for schools under the different education systems that pertain in those nations.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the admission of children of Hong Kong BNO holders to UK schools ahead of the scheme's launch in 2021.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office is working as part of a cross-government effort to ensure that when the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) Visa route opens in January it operates smoothly.
All children who live in the UK are eligible for a school place in England irrespective of their nationality.
BN(O) families moving to the UK under the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa route will be able to access a state-funded or independent school place for their children on the same basis as every other family in the UK. Those BN(O) families who choose not to avail themselves of our migration offer, and who remain in Hong Kong, will, as now, be able to send their children to the UK to access an independent school place under the UK study visa rules.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department provides to schools on the rights of children with British National (Overseas) status to school places.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All children who live in the UK are eligible for a school place in England irrespective of their nationality.
The UK has offered a new route to full citizenship to British Nationals (Overseas) (BNO(S)) and their dependants. This means that those BN(O) families taking advantage of this offer and moving to the UK will be able to access a state-funded or independent school place for their children on the same basis as every other family in the UK. Those BN(O) families who choose not to avail themselves of our migration offer, and who remain in Hong Kong, will, as now, be able to send their children to the UK to access an independent school place under the UK study visa rules.
Advice to state-funded school admission authorities is contained within the School Admissions Code, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code--2. We also provide specific advice to admission authorities on the rights of overseas pupils to access a school place on the following website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-admissions-applications-from-overseas-children.
We sent a bulletin to schools in England on 14 October containing information about changes to the immigration system which said: ‘Schools should continue to offer places to foreign national children who are resident in the United Kingdom.’