Fivefold Increase in Hong Kong Students Moving to the UK After Hong Kong National Security Law

Since the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law, the number of Hong Kong students in UK public schools has increased more than fivefold.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 13th, the UK Department for Education recently reported that 5,400 Hong Kong students were enrolled in public schools in England during the 2022-23 academic year. The numbers rose from 1,081 in the 2020-21 academic year to 368 in 2021-22, and then to 5,423 in 2022-23. This indicates that the number of Hong Kong students has increased more than fivefold over two years.

In response to China's enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law on June 30, 2020, the UK expanded its immigration policies on January 31, 2021, for holders of British National Overseas (BNO) passports. Those applying for a BNO visa can live and work in the UK for five years. The UK government then grants them settled status and allows them to apply for citizenship after another 12 months.

When the UK handed Hong Kong back to China on July 1, 1997, it granted BNO status to 3.4 million Hong Kong residents born before June 30 of that year. Including their dependents, it is estimated that a total of 5.4 million people have the opportunity to obtain UK citizenship. As of March this year, UK authorities reported that 172,500 people had applied for BNO visas.

Earlier, according to UK government data from November last year, about 27% of BNO visa applicants were under 18 years old. Those under 18 are dependents who accompanied adults applying for dependent visas.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.