Migration Pathways for Hong Kong Nationals to Australia

In recent news, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has laid foundations for a seismic change to the UK visa system, particularly for Hong Kong citizens amid threats from China to change their national security laws. Mr. Johnson is ready to offer nearly 3 million Hong Kong nationals to be eligible for a British National Overseas (BNO) passport: that is, the right to live and work in the UK. The similar initiative was once articulated by our very own Prime Minister Scott Morrison around 9 months ago, however without any proper progress, that Australia should also offer safe haven to Hong Kong residents living in Australia on visas.

China’s New Law: Why is Hong Kong Worried? 

The United Kingdom is actually in talk with allies including the United States and Australia about what to do if China imposes the new law which would make a crime to undermine Beijing’s authority and cause people start fleeing Hong Kong.

What are these new law and why are they so controversial? 

In essence, the new law will give China’s Ministry of Public Security the right to set up offices in Hong Kong to punish the following activities:

• Subversion: undermining of the power of authority

• Secession: when you seek to break away from a political state

• Terrorism: using violence or intimidation, especially against civilians, to achieve a political aim.

• Foreign interference (basically defined as when foreign powers attempt to influence what is going on in another country)

Options for Hong Kong Nationals in Australia

1. Short term assistance: Hong Kong passport holders may be eligible to apply for a visa to remain in Australia beyond their expiry date due to COVID-19 current travel restrictions in place.

2. Long term assistance: In a scenario where China imposes changes to the national law in Hong Kong, this may result in many Hong Kong residents opt to flee their home country, and/or develop fear to return back to Hong Kong, we can assist in formulating different migration options ranging from Protection or Safe Haven visas to Employer Sponsored Visas, Business migration visas, or General Skilled Migration visas, based on the person’s eligibility.

Options for Hong Kong Nationals Who Are Outside Australia

 Applying for a visa to enter Australia during the COVID-19 period is extremely tricky but if Hong Kong passport holders satisfy one of the COVID-19 exemptions, they may be able to come into Australia.

If this law is introduced, Hong Kong nationals may be eligible to apply for the humanitarian visa program. Some of the visa subclasses that Hong Kong nationals may be eligible to apply for are one of the four offshore humanitarian visas offered by the Department of Home Affairs, at the time of writing (this may be subject to change if the Australian government announces new measures similar to United Kingdom), are:

• Refugee (subclass 200) for people who the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has referred to Australia for resettlement.

• In-country Special Humanitarian (subclass 201) for people who are still living in their country and have been unable to leave.

• Emergency Rescue (subclass 203) for people who the UNHCR has referred to Australia as they are in immediate danger.

• Woman at Risk (subclass 204) for women who do not have the protection of a partner or a relative and are in danger of victimization.

Other options include, but not limited to:

• Business Migration - for people looking to open up a business or invest in a business in Australia 

• General Skilled Migration - for people with the desired skills that Australia needs and meet requirements 

• Family sponsored visas - for people with family member residing in Australia who are Australian citizen or permanent resident 

The above options will need to be assessed against one’s circumstances.

How Can Agape Henry Crux Help

If you are affected by the current circumstances in Hong Kong and migrating to Australia is one of your objective/plans, just give us a call on (02) 7200 2700 or email info@ahclawyers.com, and one of our lawyers will be giving you a call to see how we can help. All consultations and provided information are handled with strict confidence. Upon assessing your circumstances, we will canvass your options against all possible pathway(s).

We have multilingual lawyers at Agape Henry Crux who are fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Burmese, and Korean.

This article/presentation (“publication”) does not deal extensively with important topics or changes in law and is not intended to be relied upon as a substitute for legal or other advice that may be relevant to the reader's specific circumstances. If you find this publication of interest and would like to know more or wish to obtain legal advice relevant to your circumstances please contact our office.