Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Visa policy statement

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hong-kong-bno-visa-policy-statement/hong-kong-british-national-overseas-visa-policy-statement-plain-text-version

Guidance

Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Visa policy statement (plain text version)

Updated 22 July 2020

Arrivals at the border

We encourage those who may wish to apply for the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa to apply and travel to the UK once it is fully operational from January 2021.

We recognise that there may be a small number of BN(O) citizens who nonetheless wish to travel sooner. In these exceptional circumstances, Border Force Officers will be able to consider granting Leave Outside the Rules (‘LOTR’) for a period of six months to BN(O) citizens and their accompanying dependants at the UK border, if they do not satisfy Border Force that they are eligible for entry via another immigration route. It will still be open to Border Force Officers to refuse individuals entry to the UK where there is good reason to do so.

In line with the eligibility requirements for the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa, individuals will need to be able to demonstrate the following to Border Force Officers:

• that they have BN(O) status – a BN(O) passport is not required as Border Force Officers will be able to access the majority of historical records, although holding current or former BN(O) passports may make the process quicker
• that they are ordinarily resident in Hong Kong
• evidence of dependants’ family links to the main applicant
• the ability to accommodate and support themselves for their initial period in the UK; and
• that they have no serious criminal convictions, have not otherwise engaged in behaviour which the UK Government deems not conducive to the public good, or be subject to other general grounds for refusal set out in the Immigration Rules

Loved by students, scholars and writers for 450 years, Oxford pub succumbs to COVID

A historic pub in the centre of Oxford that has served students, scholars and literary greats for over 450 years is to shut down, a cultural casualty of the COVID pandemic.

REUTERS.COM

Loved by students, scholars and writers for 450 years, Oxford pub succumbs to COVID

A historic pub in the centre of Oxford that has served students, scholars and literary greats for over 450 years is to shut down, a cultural casualty of the COVID pandemic. Loved by students, scholars and writers for 450 years, Oxford pub succumbs to COVID REUTERS.COM Loved by students, scholars and writers for 450 years, Oxford pub succumbs to COVID

the four most vulnerable groups: nursing home residents and those who care for them, everyone over the age of 70, frontline health and social care workers, and extremely vulnerable individuals.

 Prime Minister Boris Johnson said England would be locked down until inoculations reached the four most vulnerable groups: nursing home residents and those who care for them, everyone over the age of 70, frontline health and social care workers, and extremely vulnerable individuals.

“If we succeed in vaccinating all those groups, we will have removed huge numbers of people from the path of the virus,” he said.

Image

London on Tuesday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that England would be locked down until inoculations reached the four most vulnerable groups.Credit...Andrew Testa for The New York Times

Mr. Johnson said that goal could be achieved by the middle of February, but that the pace of vaccinations would need to increase drastically.

The four groups he cited included 13.9 million people, according to Nadhim Zahawi, the minister overseeing the vaccine effort.

Since the campaign started on Dec. 8, 1.1 million people in England have been vaccinated, Mr. Johnson said Tuesday. Notably, 23 percent of people over 80 have gotten inoculations, and that age group could be fully vaccinated within three weeks, he said.

With the introduction on Monday of the first doses of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, British officials said the campaign could be ramped up.

To meet the February target, two million doses need to be given every week.