The world says
Written by: Cheng Yihua
2020-06-03 19:04
Date of last update: 2020-06-03 19:14The National People's Congress passed the "Hong Kong version of the National Security Law", and many Western countries expressed their opposition. Among them, the United Kingdom stated that once China implements the National Security Law in Hong Kong, it will increase the visa rights of British National (Overseas) passports (BNO). British Prime Minister Boris Johnson On June 3rd, he wrote articles in Hong Kong's "South China Morning Post" and the British "Times", describing the British position and plans.
What changes will the Johnson Administration's "Change BNO Plan" bring? The plan includes lengthening the length of stay of Hong Kong residents in the UK, but the greater emphasis is on adding "right to work" to change the situation where BNO holders cannot work in the past, which in turn will affect the difficulty of applying to become a British citizen.
British Prime Minister Johnson wrote in a newspaper in Hong Kong. The picture shows him appearing at 10 Downing Street on May 11 (Getty)
Johnson’s articles were published in Hong Kong’s “South China Morning Post” and the UK’s “Times” on June 3, and they described the views of the British government. Among the articles published in the Hong Kong newspapers, “The United Kingdom will offer another option to Hong Kong people who are worried about their future.” ". In fact, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab also previously revealed in advance at the end of May that the UK may increase BNO visa rights.
According to the current situation, BNO passport holders can stay in the UK for 6 months, but if they want to work or study, they must apply for an additional visa, so many people describe BNO as more like a travel document. As for the plan revealed by the Johnson administration today, it may make three major differences:
1. Renewable 12-month stay period
According to Johnson and Lan Taowen, the British side intends to cancel the "six-month stay" period, and then set a 12-month period, but it should be noted that both of them mentioned that this period is renewable Or extension, including Johnson called "renewable" (Renewable) and Lan Taowen called "extendable" (extendable). This means that this period is more likely not the longest 12 months, but at least 12 months.
However, details not covered by the British side include renewal conditions, etc. If the renewal requires a high-paying job or a large amount of assets, the difficulty is not low.
British Foreign Minister Lan Taowen said that once China implements the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law, the United Kingdom will increase the visa rights of BNO holders. The picture shows him appearing at Downing Street (Getty) at the end of April
🔻Lan Taowen said about the British views and plans at the end of May 🔻
China's proposed national security law for Hong Kong is in direct conflict with its obligations under the Joint Declaration. If enacted, this law would violate Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms. UK and 🇺🇸🇦🇺🇨🇦 are deeply concerned.
https://t .co/bbGgJgHklw pic.twitter.com/e7eQySFDFX
2. Join the "right to work"
Another important point brought by the British new plan is to join the "right to work." In the past, BNO passport holders were not allowed to work in the UK. Just as others need to apply for a work visa such as "Tier 2", the threshold is not low, including minimum annual salary requirements, and employers must first obtain relevant licenses. Finding suitable talents and so on, so it is very difficult to obtain a work visa.
To Lan Taowen's statement at the end of May was to allow BNO holders to "to apply to work and study" during their stay in the UK, and this time Johnson's latest article further indicated that the new plan will allow BNO to "include "The right to work" (including the right to work), which undoubtedly changes the nature of BNO.
If the BNO has the "right to work", it may become a way to apply for British citizenship. For example, those who currently obtain a "Tier 2" general work visa can obtain permanent residence after five consecutive years of residence, and then naturalization.
But of course, the details that the British side hasn't described yet include whether this "right to work" is completely unrestricted, and how many years after working, they can stay permanently.
Johnson suggested that BNO holders may be granted the "right to work". The picture shows that he walked in the park before getting to Congress on May 11 (Getty)
3. Can bring relatives
The British side also intends to extend the new plan to the relatives of BNO holders. According to Lan Taowen when he attended Parliament on June 2, the United Kingdom did not intend to qualify all those who have registered for BNO (about 3 million people), but those who can participate in the new plan will include more than 300,000 BNO passport holders , With their dependents in Hong Kong, this means that some non-BNO holders will also be eligible to travel to the UK.
↓↓↓ The "Hong Kong version of the National Security Law" has attracted various parties to debate. If you want to know the status of the representatives in various places, you can click on the picture to understand:
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In fact, after a series of social events in Hong Kong and the latest "Hong Kong version of the National Security Law", the British political community generally supported the expansion of BNO visa rights. Some members even advocated the reopening of BNO applications and directly allowed BNO holders to obtain the right of residence All these are pressures for the Johnson government to increase BNO rights, but on the other hand, the Johnson government is not without worries. For example, in December last year, the British media also reported that Lan Taowen was unwilling to affect relations with China As for the news of expanding the rights of BNO, it is unclear what variables will be in the future.
[Hong Kong version of the National Security Act] The British Foreign Minister urges China to change its decision otherwise increase BNO visa rights
【BNO】British political support for expanding visa rights The Liberal Democratic Party calls for reopening of applications
[Hong Kong version of National Security Law] Lan Taowen: Britain will grant BNO holders greater visa rights
Japan suspends visa-free arrangement for Hong Kong SAR passport
BNO British National (Overseas) Passport Johnson Boris Johnson British British Politics British Conservative Party
