Hongkongers fear 'broken promise' on UK settlement

In a bedroom on the outskirts of Nottingham, Moon Ma juggles childcare with running a YouTube channel for families who were invited to move from Hong Kong.

Her 56,000 subscribers watch videos about settling into UK schools and housing as well as English exams and driving tests.

But now Moon is worried about her own future here, as the government plans much tougher requirements for permanent settlement in the UK.

Her MP is one of dozens of Labour members who signed a letter expressing "significant concerns" about what they describe as a broken promise to people from Hong Kong.

Moon has already passed her Life in the UK Test but is concerned that sweeping immigration reforms would require a new A-level standard English language test, and minimum earnings of at least £12,570 a year.

"My biggest worry is the income requirement. I'm a full-time mum so I don't have a full-time salary," she said.

"I'm really worried I may lose the chance to stay in the UK, it gives me a lot of stress and pressure.

"It's scary and unfair because we believed it was a promise. I feel helpless."

Moon and her husband, Max, both worked as media sales managers before they sold their flat in Hong Kong and moved to Nottinghamshire in 2021.

They are among more than 180,000 people with British National (Overseas) status who arrived after the prime minister at the time, Boris Johnson, offered a route to UK citizenship following a Chinese crackdown on protests in Hong Kong.

Those BN(O) visas require them to demonstrate financial independence and pay about £1,000 a year in "health surcharges" but allow them to apply for permanent settlement in the UK after five years.

Max now works as a warehouse forklift driver and worries that he will not be able to afford to extend his family's visas.

"In the UK the money is very hard to earn. In Hong Kong we make money much more easily," he said.

As Moon prepares to celebrate the Lunar New Year this week, there is trepidation about the future.

She says she does not want to leave the UK but is worried that she will not pass the higher level English tests.

Ministers say the Immigration White Paper sets out an important principle that settlement in the UK should be earned.

But the letter, signed by 36 MPs, argues families from Hong Kong are a special case because of its British colonial history, and urges the government to honour promises made to those already here.

The letter to the Home Office is authored by the Labour MP for Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire James Naish, who has about 2,000 constituents from Hong Kong.

He sets out "significant concerns" about the changes to language and earnings requirements, adding they feel especially unfair to students, homemakers and pensioners.

Naish said he commissioned a survey of more than 6,600 BN(O) visa holders, which suggests an "alarming scenario" where only 8% of households would fully qualify for settlement after five years.

The MP urged the government to not "move the goalposts" and apply "common-sense exemptions" to the new settlement rules.

He told the BBC many families feel trapped and will be "left in limbo" because they cannot go back to Hong Kong.

"They've come to the United Kingdom because of our historic relationship with Hong Kong, we've offered them safety and I think we have a moral obligation to honour the commitment that was made when we said 'come'," he said.

"I'm very worried that families will get stuck where they're not going to have the right to stay here in the United Kingdom, they want to build roots here, but they won't necessarily be able to do that.

"The Hongkongers have done a fantastic job of integrating, they're not living off the state, they're working hard, volunteering, part of churches, and they're making themselves a genuine part of our community in Nottinghamshire."

Naish believes most people in the UK recognise that humanitarian visas should be treated as a "distinctive" immigration route.

"If I go out on the doors in Rushcliffe, people may well complain about levels of immigration, they will call out the small boat crisis," he said.

"These things absolutely need to be addressed and the government is making inroads on that.

"But if I mention the Hongkongers, if I mention the Ukrainians, if I mention the people that supported us in Afghanistan... they will instinctively recognise these are groups of people who we are choosing as a country to support because of the situations they are leaving."

In a letter responding to Naish, the Home Office minister Mike Tapp said the government was consulting on whether any groups should be exempt from the requirement to earn above £12,570 for at least three years.

He said there were already exemptions from the language requirements for those who had disabilities or were over 65, and added the government recognised that people from Hong Kong had made a "significant contribution" to the UK.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The government's support for Hongkongers remains steadfast and due to the continued deterioration of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, we have further expanded the Hong Kong BN(O) route.

"The home secretary has already confirmed that BN(O) visa holders will continue to be able to settle in the UK after five years' residence, subject to meeting the mandatory requirements, unlike other migrants who may have to wait 10 years."

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