It took Monica just a few days to make her mind up and move to the UK in August 2020. Back in Hong Kong, she was in the creative industry before becoming a financial planner and eventually moving on to retail investment. Despite her good-looking CV, it still took her six months to get a job that she likes. She shares with Ying Goi Dim what she faced during her job hunt, and why she decided to do further studies in the UK while applying for jobs.

Hong Konger Ella moved to the UK 16 years ago. Ella worked in a bar, in a Chinese restaurant as a waitress in Tesco stacking the shelves. Now she is a business owner with her own Chinese takeaway in North Yorkshire. She shares with Ying Goi Dim her experience running a catering business in the UK, and why British people don’t like their chicken with bones.

Samson Chan is in his early 50s. He left Hong Kong in fear of his life and arrived the UK in early January. He was the assistant of Ted Hui, former Hong Kong pro-democracy legislator who faces criminal charges stemming from protests in Hong Kong in 2019.

After Ted Hui landed in London to begin self-exile in early December 2020, Samson believed he was being followed in Hong Kong. It is this worry that pushed him to leave Hong Kong after having lived there all his life.

May is a grandmother in her 60s. When her daughter and son asked if she wanted to move to the UK with them now that the BNO Visa is a reality, she was hesitant in giving up her life in Hong Kong. Considering that flying between the UK and Hong Kong regularly would be even more difficult when she gets older, she decided to come on LOTR with her husband, children and grandchildren. The three generations moved to the UK in October 2020.

Kaka and Bear have been best friends since secondary school. After the BNO Visa was announced, it took them only a few days to pluck up the courage to tell their parents their desire to move to the UK as two single girls to support one another. They each bought a house in the same city from Hong Kong, and Bear moved to Glasgow in December on LOTR (leave outside the rules). We spoke to Kaka, who has resigned and plans to move into her new home with her dog in April.

Eva came to the UK on her own in November on LOTR (leave outside the rules) hoping for a better life. With no family or friends here, she decided to call Bristol home. This is the story of a single girl moving into a share flat with three male housemates, and working in a warehouse for £10/hour while figuring what to do next.

Before coming to the UK, GoGo (高高) thought starting a new life in the UK with his wife and son would be expensive and difficult. He wanted to stay in Hong Kong for a few more years and to earn more before moving but the rapidly changing environment in Hong Kong meant the longer he delayed his move, the less fair it was for his 9-year-old son. As he did his research, he noticed living in the North is affordable, and his house is "frankly cheaper than a flat in the Greater Bay".

Hong Kongers who arrived on Leave Outside the Rules (‘LOTR’) before 31 July will have a few days' gap in their leave to remain before the BNO visa process begins on 31 January 2021. What should they do to ensure their leave to remain in the UK and continue work and study? We asked Zoe Bantleman of Richmond Chambers LLP.

If you are in the UK already, I trust you will agree with me that it is cold (and it's not even snowing in London yet). I've lived here 13 years now and I still can't bear it. So I asked my Hong Kong friends who lived abroad for years, as well as a few Brits, their advice on how to stay warm in temperate climate.

Kane Chiang has been in the UK for a few months since he arrived on LOTR (leave outside the rules) with his family in August 2020. Since mid October he has been working as a steel fixer. He's surprised that demand for construction workers in the UK is fairly stable despite the COVID-19 pandemic.