Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to the UK Border Agency on applications for (a) BN(O) visas and (b) asylum from Hongkongers who have been convicted of offences under the National Security Law or other legislation applicable in Hong Kong.

On 31 January the new Hong Kong BN(O) route launched. The route will enable BN(O) status holders and their eligible family members to come to the UK to live, work and study. This new route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997.

In line with standard operational procedures, all Border Force staff were informed of the opening of the new route. Detailed guidance and training for processing applications for the BN(O) route were also provided to relevant caseworking teams in UKVI.

The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, in accordance with our international obligations. All asylum claims are assessed on their individual merits on a case-by-case basis. We would not automatically refuse asylum applications from those with criminal convictions.