La Jornada – United Kingdom offers new work visas to Hong Kong residents

London Hong Kong holders of “British foreign passports” will be able to apply for visas to work and live in the United Kingdom from Sunday, reported in London on Friday, promising a measure in the framework of their confrontation with Beijing : Former British colony.

Until now, residents of the area who had come back to London in China in 1997 could only go to work in Britain without authorization for six months.

But with these visas they will be able to stay for five years and later apply for British citizenship.

“I am very proud that we have opened this new avenue of Hong Kong to live, work and settle in our country,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.

The expansion “respected our deep historical and friendly relations with the people of Hong Kong”, adding the leader, who claims “defending” thus “freedom and autonomy, the values ​​for which the United Kingdom and Hong Kong are committed” .

The defense minister said that the British government promised this change in July 2020 in response to China implementing a new national security law in Hong Kong, which was seen as a “clear and serious violation”. Dominic Raab.

Holders of “British foreign passports” and “eligible family members” will be able to apply for a five-year visa for 250 pounds ($ 340, 280 euros) starting on Sunday.

However, each person, adult or minor, must pay between £ 3,120 and £ 2,350 for benefits from the British public health system.

There are approximately 350,000 “British Overseas Passport” holders, a number that has almost doubled in Hong Kong in the past year. Another 2.9 million Hong Kongers, all born before 1997, are eligible for this document.

London estimates that the new system could attract 322,400 of them in five years.