Exclusive: Home Office ruling means thousands more Hongkongers will be eligible to come to the UK over next five years
Ministers have opened up visas to thousands more people from Hong Kong in the wake of the 20-year prison sentence handed down to the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai.
Adult children of British national (overseas) status holders who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to China will be eligible to apply for the route independently of their parents, a Home Office spokesperson told the Guardian on Monday.
Their partners and children will also be able to move to the UK under the expanded route, the Home Office said. The Home Office estimates that 26,000 people will arrive in the UK because of Monday’s changes over the next five years.
The expansion comes hours after the British-Hong Kong media mogul Lai, 78, was given a “heartbreakingly cruel” punishment. His family say his health is declining rapidly and he will die in jail.
