HK people in UK fear new immigration rules
Hong Kong migrants to Britain have launched a nationwide lobbying campaign to protect their future after the government published proposals to narrow their path to citizenship.
Since 2021, 160,000 holders of British Nationality Overseas (BNO) passports have emigrated to Britain, on the promise of applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) status after five years and citizenship the next year.
Last week the Home Office published a paper that makes it more difficult for refugees and migrants to obtain British citizenship. There is a three-month consultation period that closes on February 12, 2026.
The paper keeps the current five-year route to ILR for BNO passport holders but adds two new conditions. One is a more difficult exam in English proficiency, from B1 to B2, the equivalent to A-level English or a score of 5.5 to 65 in the International English Language Testing System.
The other is a minimum annual income of 12,570 pounds for three to five consecutive years.
It is these two conditions that have alarmed the Hong Kong migrants.
Richard Choi Ka-yuen is a Liberal Democratic councillor in Sutton, southwest London, and the founder of Sutton Hongkongers in 2021. He has launched a nationwide lobbying campaign to present proposals to the government before the deadline in February next year.
“Within 24 hours, we collected 50 pieces of testimony,” he told reporters. “Our members feel that the ‘goalposts are moving’ and that promises made by successive UK governments are being diluted.”
The group is seeking meetings with MPs with constituencies with large HK communities, like Sutton, Milton Keynes and Manchester. It is urging the government to exempt BNO passport holders from any new rules to obtain citizenship.
The government announced them to counter the rising anger among the public against what they see as uncontrolled immigration. In the 12 months to December 2024, it was 431,000. In the 12 months to June 2023, it was 906,000, a record for a single year.
The anti-immigration Reform UK party is leading in opinion polls. The latest YouGov poll, released on 28 October, showed Reform UK on 27 per cent, ahead of Labour and the Conservatives tied on 17 per cent.
This year those opposing immigration have organised demonstrations outside hotels housing asylum seekers and a giant protest in central London in September that attracted 150,000 people.
An estimated 92,000 Hong Kongers who arrived in Britain in 2021 can apply for ILR in 2026. They are expected to do so before February 12 and any more changes to the rules.
The B2 level in the English exam is equivalent to level three in the Diploma of Secondary Education exam in Hong Kong. In the exam this year, 55.1 per cent of students achieved level three or above.
It will require the applicant to understand difficult passages of text and technical discussions, hold a conversation with a native speaker and answer questions on grammar and vocabulary.
This is a daunting prospect for migrants who live in a mainly Cantonese-speaking environment or work in low-paying jobs where their conversations with British people are on an elementary level. The requirement for B1 is lower – that you make yourself understood.
Many migrants work in hospitality, health care and the creative sectors. Their employers would do well to provide more English-language tuition to help them pass the exam.
The government has introduced the condition of the minimum income to ensure that migrants pay income tax.
But what about Hong Kong people who stay at home to look after their children, parents or other elderly relatives? In Britain, as in other Western countries, domestic help is only available for the very rich.
Others work part-time or in jobs that pay the minimum wage. Many Hong Kong migrants arrived in Britain with a lump sum from selling their property or properties here and are living on these savings, investments or rent.
The Home Office paper says that, apart from the minimum income, applicants would qualify if they had “an alternative amount”, but has not given details.
Richard Leung emigrated with his wife in 2022. “I have a great sense of uncertainty,” he said. “When we arrived, there was one set of rules to apply citizenship. Now there is another. In the future, the rules will only become stricter, especially if there is a government led by Reform UK. We are uneasy.”
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