UK expands Hong Kong visa scheme in wake of Jimmy Lai’s prison sentence

Exclusive: Home Office ruling means thousands more Hongkongers will be eligible to come to the UK over next five years

Ministers have opened up visas to thousands more people from Hong Kong in the wake of the 20-year prison sentence handed down to the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai.

Adult children of British national (overseas) status holders who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong's 1997 handover to China will be eligible to apply for the route independently of their parents, a Home Office spokesperson told the Guardian on Monday.