Hong Kong BN(O) passport holders exempt from needing ETA to travel to UK
Hongkongers holding British National (Overseas) passports no longer need to obtain an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) document before travelling to the United Kingdom.
Advertisement
The UK government updated its website on Thursday to reflect the development, expanding the original exemption that applied to BN(O) visa holders.
The change came after migration and citizenship minister Seema Malhotra confirmed the decision in a letter to a member of the parliament last week.
She wrote that the decision was based on the fact that the BN(O) passport is issued by the UK, thereby providing a greater level of assurance to the identity of the holder.
Malhotra added the move had been made on the basis of the close ties that the BN(O) community has with the UK and the historical commitments made to them.
Advertisement
Since January, non-European nationals who do not need a visa for short stays in the UK have had to obtain an ETA before arrival. This included Hongkongers who were BN(O) passport holders but did not have a visa.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
18-05-2025
- HKFP
‘Unscientific' Japan megaquake rumours spook Hong Kong tourists
Unfounded online rumours warning that a huge earthquake will soon strike Japan are taking a toll on travel firms and airlines who report less demand from worried Hong Kongers. People from Hong Kong made nearly 2.7 million trips to Japan in 2024. Although it is impossible to know exactly when earthquakes will hit, fear-inducing predictions have spread widely among the city's residents. Some of the false posts cite a Japanese manga comic, republished in 2021, which predicts a major natural disaster in July 2025 — based on the author's dream. Other posts give different dates, while a Facebook group that claims to predict disasters in Japan has over a quarter of a million members, mainly in Hong Kong and Taiwan. 'The earthquake prophecy has absolutely caused a big change to our customers' preferences,' said Frankie Chow, head of Hong Kong travel agency CLS Holiday. Chow told AFP that in March and April his company received 70-80 percent fewer inquiries about travelling to Japan than last year. 'I've never experienced this before,' said Chow, who also runs the booking website While some people changed their destination, others 'did not dare to travel', he said. Mild to moderate earthquakes are common in Japan, where strict building codes minimise damage, even from larger shakes. But the nation is no stranger to major disasters, including in 2011 when a magnitude-9.0 quake triggered a tsunami that left 18,500 people dead or missing and caused a devastating meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Earthquakes are very rarely felt in Hong Kong, but some people are easily spooked by disinformation, Chow said. 'Megaquake' warning' Last month, Tokyo's Cabinet Office said on social media platform X: 'Predicting earthquakes by date, time and place is not possible based on current scientific knowledge.' A Cabinet Office official told AFP that the X post was part of its usual information-sharing about earthquakes. But Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily reported that it was responding to prophecies that sprung up online after a Japanese government panel in January released a new estimate for the probability of a 'megaquake'. The panel said the chance of a massive earthquake along the undersea Nankai Trough south of Japan in the next three decades had marginally increased to 75-82 percent. This was followed by a new damage estimate in March from the Cabinet Office, which said a Nankai Trough megaquake and tsunami could cause 298,000 deaths in Japan. Despite being a routine update of a previous 2014 figure, the estimate appears to have fanned tourists' fears. A YouTube video featuring a feng shui master urging viewers not to visit Japan, published by local media outlet HK01, has been viewed more than 100,000 times. Don Hon, one of Hong Kong's 7.5 million residents, does not entirely believe the online claims, but has still been influenced by them. 'I will just take it as a precaution, and won't make any particular plans to travel to Japan,' the 32-year-old social worker said. And if a friend were to ask him to visit Japan in July, Hon 'might suggest going somewhere else'. 'No reason to worry' Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines has reduced flights to Japan's southern Tokushima region, a local tourism official told AFP. 'The company told us demand has rapidly decreased amid rumours there will be a big quake and tsunami in Japan this summer,' she said. 'Three scheduled weekly round-trip flights will be reduced to two round-trips per week from May 12 to October 25.' The airline is also reducing its flights to Sendai in the northern region of Miyagi. 'There's no reason to worry,' Miyagi's governor Yoshihiro Murai reassured travellers, adding that Japanese people are not fleeing. But 'if unscientific rumours on social media are impacting tourism, that would be a major problem', he said last month. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of Hong Kong visitors in March stood at 208,400 — down nearly 10 percent year-on-year. However, this decline was partly due to the Easter holidays starting in mid-April this year, instead of March, they said. Hong Kong-based EGL Tours has not seen a massive decline in customers travelling to Japan, its executive director Steve Huen Kwok-chuen said. But recent bookings at its two hotels in Japan show fewer from Hong Kong guests, while the number from other global destinations remains stable. In any case, in the likely event that the predictions do not come to pass, 'people will realise it's not true', he said.
RTHK
16-05-2025
- RTHK
Five-day Easter break among 2026 public holidays
Five-day Easter break among 2026 public holidays There will be 17 public holidays next year, according to a list released by the government. File photo: AFP Hongkongers can enjoy a five-day Easter break in 2026 without taking any additional leave, according to a list of official public holidays for next year. The government on Friday gazetted the dates, listing out 17 days of public holidays in total for next year. By taking two days of leave on February 16 and 20, people working five days a week can enjoy up to a nine-day break over the Lunar New Year holiday period. Another long weekend will be from April 3 to 7, which will include the Easter holidays and the Ching Ming Festival. "As the Ching Ming Festival in 2026 falls on a Sunday, the following day will be designated as a general holiday in substitution," a government spokesperson said. "In this regard, as the day following the Ching Ming Festival falls on Easter Monday, the next day that is not itself a general holiday will be observed as an additional general holiday." With both the Buddha's Birthday and Chung Yeung Festival falling on a Sunday, the Monday following these two days will be designated as public holidays.
South China Morning Post
05-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
12,300 revellers brave heat for buns, fish balls, Ne Zha at Hong Kong Cheung Chau festival
More than 12,000 Hongkongers and tourists have flocked to Cheung Chau for the island's annual bun festival, and a parade featuring popular film characters and hot topics such as scams, with businesses expecting sales growth and overseas market expansions. Advertisement Revellers set out on their journeys early on Monday. Shortly before 9am, the Central pier announced that the fast ferry was fully boarded, as dozens of tourists waited there. Cheung Chau Bun Festival, also known as Cheung Chau Da Jiu Festival , falls each year on Buddha's Birthday. This year, the date coincided with the last day of the Labour Day 'golden week' holiday. Sun Ferry said that about 12,300 passengers boarded its ferries from Central to Cheung Chau between 8am and 12pm, noting a 9 per cent decrease compared with the same period last year. Advertisement 'Sun Ferry has deployed all available standby vessels to provide additional sailings, and the maximum hourly carrying capacity is over 200 per cent more than usual,' the operator said. Crowds lined the streets of the island to catch a glimpse of Piu Sik Parade, which kicked off at 1.30pm. Themes of this year's parade included Ne Zha, Southeast Asian scam compound 'KK Park' and the National Games.
