British National Overseas visa app spikes in popularity in Hong Kong bangkokpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bangkokpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
From today (Tuesday 23 February), applicants for the Hong Kong
BN(O) visa with certain biometric passports will be able to apply from a smartphone app to scan their passport.
BN(O),
HKSAR or EEA biometric passport holders to submit their biometrics and validate their identity using the app. The
BN(O),
HKSAR document holders will be the first non-EEA citizens to be able to use this system.
The launch of the app comes after the UK government delivered on its commitment to open a new visa for Hong Kong
BN(O) status holders with the
BN(O) visa, which launched on 31 January.
“I hope it all goes smoothly and I can get my visa as soon as possible,” a 24-year-old woman, who was active in 2019’s anti-government protests, said before applying for the visa.
The woman left Hong Kong for Britain in December, fearing for the city’s future after Beijing imposed its
A British National (Overseas) passport. Britain’s new scheme gives Hongkongers eligible for the special status a new pathway to residency, and eventually citizenship. Photo: Bloomberg
While applications for the new BN(O) visas first opened on January 31, applicants at the time were required to submit some personal information via the British government’s website and then to submit their fingerprints at visa centres.
[co-author: Carrie-Ann Hopkins]
A “frontier worker” is a resident of the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein, who is employed or self-employed in the United Kingdom.
From 1 July 2021, the UK government will require each frontier worker to hold a valid frontier worker permit, as well as a valid passport or national identity card, in order to enter the United Kingdom as a frontier worker. The frontier worker permit allows nationals of the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein to continue coming to the United Kingdom to work whilst residing elsewhere. Irish citizens have a right to work and reside in the United Kingdom and thus are not required to apply for frontier worker permits, though they can do so if they so choose.