Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Second Report - The UK’s offer of visa and settlement routes for residents of Hong Kong
Home Affairs Committee
HC 191
Published 7 July 2021
Recommendations
3
Rejected
Para 58
Remove or raise Youth Mobility Scheme cap and assure bilateral agreement effectiveness for Hong Kongers
Recommendation
We also agree with witnesses that the current provisions of the Youth Mobility Scheme—places on which are allotted through a lottery—are inadequate to support the size and needs of this cohort. The Government must provide assurances about the continuing feasibility …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejects increasing the quota for Hong Kong nationals on the Youth Mobility Scheme, citing that each agreement is subject to a reciprocal quota based on UK nationals' usage.
Home Office
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9
Rejected
Para 73
Assess young people affected and extend BN(O) visa route for eligible unregistered applicants
Recommendation
Young people who were eligible but too young to register themselves before handover on 1 July 1997 are being denied access to the Hong Kong BN(O) visa route because, for whatever reason, their parents failed to complete the process. The …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejects assessing affected young people or extending the BN(O) visa route further, stating they have no plans to expand eligibility beyond adult children already in a BN(O) status holder's household, and point to alternative existing immigration routes.
Home Office
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Conclusions (1)
4
Conclusion
Rejected
Para 59
In order to provide consistency with other pathways to the UK we ask the Government as a matter of urgency to consider, and to report to Parliament, how a five-year pathway to settlement might be made available to this group.
Government Response Summary
The government rejected the recommendation to make a five-year pathway to settlement available through the Youth Mobility Scheme, stating that YMS is a temporary cultural exchange route that does not lead to settlement.