[ThisIsNotNew]

Funny you say that because I know someone who picked Manchester after moving to UK from HK because he and his dad support Manchester United. He moved along with his brother, sister and retired parents, all under the HK visa. They are looking to buy two homes in Manc with their in savings.

The newspapers are suggesting the new migrant stats to be published soon by Home Office for past 12 months will show extremely high numbers from both Hong Kong and Ukraine. To be honest I'm surprised people from Hong Kong didn't pick Australia instead of UK given it's better weather and bigger homes/roads compared to cramped England.

[charlieyu1]

You could apply for a British National Overseas (BNO) passport if you were born before 1997, and since 2021 one could stay in UK with BNO. For many people it is the easiest way to leave Hong Kong. Most places are much stricter, my friends going to Australia are going back to studying to apply for a student visa.

The policy is not without flaws though, the youngest BNO holders are now 26, immigration policy that focus on older generation is much harder to work. The 12-18 year olds are having a hard time as well, a 6 year stay is required before you could go to university with home fee, and no home fee basically means no university for many families.

[dukeyukey]

My undersntanding is that a BNO holder can bring their dependent family members with them which might help a bit. But yeah, it must be sucky to be a young pro-democracy camp Hongkonger with parents either explicitly pro-Beijing or at least uninterested in leaving.

[dukeyukey]

> I'm surprised people from Hong Kong didn't pick Australia instead of UK

My understanding is that the UK has the pretty generous BNO visa with immediate working rights and a path to citizenship, while Australia has an enhanced post-graduation pathway.

THe first is much easier and more flexible.