The UK will introduce a new visa at the end of January that will give 5.4 million Hong Kong residents – a staggering 70% of the area’s population – the right to come and live in the UK and eventually become citizens.
It offers a “generous” offer to residents of its former colony because China believes it is undermining Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms.
Not everyone will come. Some of those who are eligible to leave have expressed their intention to stay and continue the fight for democracy.
Eventually, Britain estimates that around 300,000 will take up the visa offer over the next five years.
But some are so keen to leave that they are already in the UK, including Andy Li and his wife Teri Wong.
The couple moved to York City with their daughter Gudelia and son Paul in October, shortly after Britain announced plans to launch the new visa scheme.
They moved mainly for their children.
“We feel that the things we value about Hong Kong – our core values - are fading over time,” he said. Li said.
“Therefore, we decided that we should provide a better opportunity for our children, not only for their education, but also for their future.”
For Mr Li, Britain offers the kind of society – the rule of law, freedom of speech, democratic elections – that he longed for in Hong Kong.
Ms Wong said she wants her children to be able to say what they want at school, not like in Hong Kong, where they have to be careful. “This is not the life we want them to have,” she said.
Britain has allowed Hong Kong residents, such as Mr Li and his family, to relocate to the UK even before the new visa takes effect.
But from January 31, they can start applying for citizenship, which will take six years.
In the meantime, they will have to finance themselves, although they are able to get health care and get their children educated.
Gudelia, who is 14, and Paul (11) have already found a new school.
Mr. Li continues to work remotely for a Chinese electronics company in Shenzhen, the Chinese city just across the border from Hong Kong.
The family is excited about their new life, but others have arrived with less feeling to start something good than to flee something bad.
One person who did not want to be identified recently came to Britain after participating in pro-democracy in Hong Kong in 2019.
“I fear for the safety and security of the friends and family who have decided to stay behind,” the 23-year-old told the BBC.
“And I am afraid that I too will become a target for the Hong Kong authorities because of my active participation in the protests.”
But even this person has hopes for a better life: “Getting a chance to live here is a dream come true.”
Since the United Kingdom returned its former colony 23 years ago, relatively few inhabitants of the area – less than 16,000 – have become British citizens.
That will certainly change, in part because the new visa scheme appears to offer few hurdles for the millions who could be eligible.
“I have had clients in Canada, Australia and Taiwan who have suspended their applications and now want to go to the UK,” said Andrew Lo, an immigration adviser in Hong Kong.
Another consultant in the area, Colin Bloomfield, said the visa requirements did seem generous, although he said Britain might add more requirements that would make it harder to withdraw.
The scheme is open to Hong Kong residents who claimed the status of British National (Overseas), or BNO, before the 1997 handover. A total of 2.9 million people have registered and can therefore apply for the new visa.
Their dependents – another two and a half million people – can also travel with them.
Teri Wong is the only person in her family who has registered for BNO status, but she is allowed to bring her husband, who was born in China, and their two children with her to Britain.
“Why do I have to leave?”
Although the British government acknowledges that as many as one million people can apply for the visa over the next five years, it thinks that only a few hundred thousand will do so.
It believes most people will choose to stay in Hong Kong.
Some residents will not want to leave elderly parents behind or learn a new language; the British weather will certainly deter others from doing so.
Many do not want to surrender the area to its fate.
“There are a certain number of people who do not want to leave, especially young people. They would rather die in Hong Kong,” Lo said.
“I have a lot of clients who fight with their kids because the kids don’t want to emigrate. They say, ‘Why do I have to leave? I have to try my best to change this place.'”
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There is also the problem of finding work in Britain as the country tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and the Brexit.
And if there are enough, new arrivals could be grieved by British people who oppose too much immigration.
“In the cold light of day, many people will decide to stay in Hong Kong,” he said. Bloomfield, whose company is called British Connections.
No matter how many apply, the British government has said it has no choice but to offer the Hong Kong people an escape route.
“It’s not a matter of numbers,” a Home Affairs spokesman said.
“The government is committed to giving British citizens (overseas) citizens in Hong Kong a choice to come to the UK and fulfill their historical commitment to them.”
Britain believes that China, when it introduced its Hong Kong National Security Act earlier this year, violated the terms of the handover agreement signed by the two countries.
The space for expressing opinions that the Chinese government does not like has certainly narrowed since the law came into force in July.
Ultimately, the number of Hong Kong residents emigrating to Britain may depend on how much more Beijing decides to push.