Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports that the British National (Overseas) visa is not being recognised by the Hong Kong Government as valid proof of permanent departure from Hong Kong and that people holding that visa and seeking to leave Hong Kong for the UK are being denied early withdrawal of their pension savings as a result.

The right of people to leave Hong Kong is guaranteed under the Basic Law and should be upheld. It is unacceptable for Hong Kong's Mandatory Provident Funds (MPF) Schemes Authority to declare that they will not accept the BN(O) visa as evidence in support of an application for early withdrawal of the MPF.