PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Visas: Hong Kong (1 November 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of Cantonese-language guidance to Hongkongers applying for eVisa to replace their Biometric Residence Permit.

Asked by:
David Pinto-Duschinsky (Labour)

We have ensured that the wording used to explain how to create a UVKI account and get access to an eVisa is simple and can be easily translated using various free online services. In consultation with stakeholders, we are also considering providing information about the transition to eVisas in other languages.

We are also working closely with our partner agency in delivering engagement activity with community groups, as they will be producing guidance materials translated into key languages.

We will continue to work with British Embassy communications teams at Post to explore the need for translations in specific regions. Where appropriate, we can provide editable social media assets that can be translated to support customer awareness of the changes to the immigration system in local languages.

We have engaged with, among others, the education sector, employers, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations to reach those affected by the transition to eVisas, including vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups. Many thousands of people have attended our calls.

People can nominate a ‘helper’ and give them limited access to their account, so that they can assist with creating a UKVI account, completing details to access an eVisa, and with any immigration application.

Where a person is unable to manage their own affairs due to, for example, age or disability, a ‘proxy’, who is authorised to act on their behalf, can create and manage the account on their behalf.

Answered by:
Seema Malhotra (Labour)
11 November 2024