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, the South China Morning Post reported. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights there will now be a presumption in favour of such applicants, saying many of those involved in the protests are among the people the route was intended to support.
Applicants who fail the scheme’s standard suitability tests because of protest participation will automatically be considered by ministers for leave outside the immigration rules, under a formal Home Office process backed by published guidance. Mahmood called it a targeted measure for Hong Kong’s circumstances and reserved the right to refuse where criminal behaviour is serious enough; under current rules a sentence of 12 months or more generally triggers mandatory refusal. The move follows reports that at least 12 Hongkongers convicted over the 2019 protests have been refused BN(O) visas since July.