UK eases BN(O) visa barriers for Hong Kong protesters convicted over 2019 unrest

The UK government has confirmed that convictions linked to Hong Kong’s 2019 protests should generally not prevent otherwise eligible applicants from using the British National (Overseas) visa scheme, following reports that several convicted protesters had their applications rejected.

In a letter on Wednesday to Alex Sobel, chairman of the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said there would now be a “presumption in favour” of ensuring that protest-related convictions did not prevent otherwise eligible applicants from using the scheme.

“The government recognises that many of those involved in the protests are among the individuals the route was intended to support,” she said.

Under the change, applicants who fail to meet the scheme’s standard suitability requirements because of their participation in the protests will automatically be considered by ministers for “leave outside the immigration rules”.

Mahmood said the Home Office was establishing a formal process, backed by published guidance, to ensure such cases could be “identified and considered consistently”.

She described the move as a “targeted measure” reflecting Hong Kong’s particular circumstances, saying it did not change the government’s broader approach to criminality within the immigration system.

“We will continue to reserve the right to refuse an application in circumstances where we believe criminal behaviour is serious enough that it should preclude admission to the United Kingdom,” she said.

Under current Home Office rules, a conviction resulting in a prison sentence of 12 months or more, including a suspended sentence, generally triggers mandatory refusal of entry or settlement.

The announcement followed a September report by British newspaper Metro, which cited lawyers as saying that at least 12 Hongkongers convicted over the 2019 protests had been refused visas under the scheme since Andy Burnham became prime minister in July.

Britain introduced the visa scheme for Hongkongers following the enactment of the city’s national security law in 2020. More than 187,000 people have been issued BN(O) visas since the scheme opened in 2021.