waiting like the UK

[m4nn]

hello, - if my partner wished to marry me, and we decided to both live in HK, is it like the UK where she would need like 6 months of payslips etc before she could call me over as a spouse?.

what would the requirements be?.

she has full HKID & a BNO passport & works full time.
im a british passport holder.


thanks much.

[PDLM]

No, you could apply immediately after you are married (assuming you are of the opposite sex). The application could take anything from 2 weeks (unlikely) up to 4 months or more to be processed, depending on whether Immigration has concerns about the genuineness of the relationship. Assuming you can show evidence of that (if you have kids or held joint bank accounts or joint mortgages / leases for any length of time then that's best) then it should be 4-6 weeks.

She also needs to be able to show that she can accommodate you and support you financially, so she will need to show either a job in HK with a good salary (say $20,000+) or a significant amount of savings (say HK$200,000) - in both cases the amount would be less if she has access to (family?) accommodation for you both. Note that the amounts are not published figures, they're just my guess based on what we have read of cases here. Each case is at the judgement of the officer handling it.

The official guidelines and forms are here: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Immigration Department

[m4nn]

thank you so much. appreciated.

though she is in the process of applying for a british passport ending her BNO nationality, so if that goes well, then its UK, if not, im looking to move out to there in hong kong.

thank you again.

[emmie]

though she is in the process of applying for a british passport ending her BNO nationality, so if that goes well, then its UK, if not, im looking to move out to there in hong kong.

Sorry for poking my nose in (again) in someone else's thread, but I'd like to know:

How does one go about applying for a UK passport if one's a BNO holder about to marry - or already married to - a British Citizen?

Under some vague impression that the UK immigration requires proof that, e.g. once married, that partner/spouse has lived in the UK for some time (3 years?) AND been 'sponsored' - e.g. for work - while there. How does one "end" one's "BNO nationality", switching it for a Brit one? (Oops, showing ignorance... and laziness - please clarify, thanks.)

[PDLM]

In general you are correct, for BNOs of Chinese ethnicity (i.e. HK Chinese). But there are quite a few BNOs who have no other nationality - they are normally of South Asian descent. The UK's rules were changed a few years back to enable them to apply for full British Citizenship if they met certain criteria.

[Hairball]

Full British citizenship is more "superior" to the BNO. Both BC and BNO are classes of British "nationality". I'm not quite sure how you can renounce BNO, nor is there really a point to it if you're becoming a BC. Marrying usually doesn't give citizenship, you'd probably have to live sometime in the UK at least before you can get it.

Interestingly I've seen some guy post at the BritishHongKong forum a British citizen passport with a BNO endorsement. I thought that was kind of neat.

[m4nn]

many thanks everyone,...
i think if she married me here in the UK a 2 year waiting period would have to elapse before citizenship was granted..in these 2 years i would have to show that i have supported her throughout without any real issue.

i think even the home office pay a visit should they need to at your home.
she is a pakistani living in HK with a BNO passport - her application for a british passport/citizenship has just been logged.

it could take around 3 months, but if anything, we're looking at our plan B & C options.
plan B is me moving to HK, plan C is bringing her to the UK as a marriage/spouse visa, but she likes HK more.

thanks again.

[PDLM]

If she is truly a Pakistani (i.e. she holds Pakistani citizenship) then I don't see how she would be entitled to British Citizenship. If, however, she is HK born and has (and is entitled to) no other citizenship then as I see it she will probably get the BC.

Has she also considered applying for Chinese citizenship? Many South Asians living here have gone that route and been granted Chinese citizenship & HKSAR passports. It would help a lot if she was fluent in Cantonese.

[m4nn]

thanks she has no other nationality other than BNO, & she also speaks cantonese very well to fluent.
she will know the outcome in some 90 days or so.
thanks..