"Life is like a one-way train, from the beginning of life to the end, there is no return journey."
For Fiona, a former Hong Kong female teacher, the moment she chose to immigrate to The United Kingdom from Hong Kong with her family, she will not give herself a way out and will never return to Hong Kong.
Her husband, Aman, once said he would rather be a beggar in England than go back to Hong Kong.
How are they living today? Do you still swear not to regret it as you once did?
The family immigrated to the UK
In July 2020, the United Kingdom released a message that quickly exploded in Hong Kong, causing a large-scale discussion among Hong Kong citizens.
The British government has decided to relax the immigration policy for Hong Kong citizens in China, as long as Hong Kong citizens hold BNO passports, they can apply for permanent residence in the UK with their families.
The news caused a wave of immigration in Hong Kong, and a large number of Hong Kong residents immigrated to the United Kingdom.
Fiona and Aman also took the opportunity to move to England with their children.
Before immigrating to the UK, Fiona and Oman's household income was moderate in Hong Kong, with monthly household incomes of up to HK$70,000 and an annual household income of about HK$700,000.
Fiona is a private secondary school teacher in Hong Kong and earns about HK$40,000 a month.
Her husband, Aman, as a bus driver, earns about HK$30,000 a month.
Although their income is not low, in Hong Kong, where the land is scarce, the family can still squeeze into a house of less than 40 square meters.
Fiona often complained to her husband: "Our house is too small, and when the two children grow up, how should our family live?" I don't know when I'll be able to change to a big house. ”
When Aman heard his wife's words, he also began to consider this issue, but the housing prices in Hong Kong remained high, and their current savings were simply not enough to change into a large house in Hong Kong.
Fiona and Aman have two children, and in order to take better care of the children, they hired a Filipino maid to take care of the children.
Filipino maids are also responsible for cleaning the house and cooking.
In this way, the living standards of fiona's family in Hong Kong, although not rich, are still enjoyable.
After the introduction of a new immigration policy in Britain, Fiona and Oman began to think about immigration.
This opportunity is fleeting, and if you don't grasp it now, you don't know if you will have the same opportunity in the future.
Fiona and Oman have always aspired to live in developed countries, and a break in may be able to change the current dilemma, change a new environment, change a big house, and provide a good educational environment for children.
Therefore, after much consideration, the couple finally decided to apply to the United Kingdom for permanent residence in the United Kingdom.
However, their ideas were opposed by Fiona's parents.
Parents cite many cases of failed immigration to dissuade them.
But Aman said to his father-in-law and mother-in-law: "I would rather go to England as a beggar and beg for alms every day than return to Hong Kong, even if I were to be emperor, I would never come back here." ”
After repeated persuasions were fruitless, the parents could only allow their daughter's family to go to England.
They began preparing for immigration, and they each quit their jobs and dropped their daughters out of school.
Since the official BNO visa had not yet been passed, Fiona applied for a LOTR visa for her family, preparing to find a job in the UK first, and then wait for the BNO visa to pass.
They also took stock of all their assets, packed all the luggage they needed to go to Britain, and then the family excitedly waited to travel to Britain.
Before leaving, Fiona and Aman took their families on a tour of Hong Kong as a final farewell to Hong Kong.
In 2021, Fiona's family officially left for the UK, preparing to officially settle in the UK.
What they didn't expect, however, was that their life in the UK was far less than in Hong Kong.
Life in the UK
Fiona's family arrived in England and decided to temporarily live in the small town of Crewe, Cheshire, England, where the cost of living was relatively low.
Fiona booked a homestay online for two months.
They decided to get a good job within two months and then move to a new home.
When Fiona was in Hong Kong, she brought all the household appliances she could bring to the UK for the sake of saving money.
However, now she is troubled by these electrical appliances, it turns out that their family is dependent on Filipino maids, and the couple will not operate these appliances.
After cleaning up the house, they decided to go to a nearby supermarket to buy some food and groceries.
Since neither of them used the microwave or the rice cooker, they decided to eat bread on their stomachs and drink cold milk.
The couple decided to leave the children at home, and they began to go out looking for work.
However, since their current visa is only a LOTR visa, many employers do not recognize this visa. They repeatedly hit a wall in their search for a job.
This is because the UK, starting on 20 July 2021, abolished the policy that Hong Kong residents can travel to the UK on a LOTR visa.
In addition, the UK's immigration policy stipulates that if a foreign citizen enters the UK through a LOTR visa, the BNO visa information applied for will be automatically cancelled and a new application will be required.
If you reapply for a BNO visa, fiona's family will need to provide a new proof of property.
But their family's savings were about the same as a few months before they arrived in the UK, and they couldn't provide new proof of their fortune.
After coming to the UK, the couple often quarreled over the cost of funds.
Fiona advocated frugality and saving as much money as possible.
But Oman does not think so, he feels that in Hong Kong, he often tied his hands and feet in order to save money, and now that he has come to a developed country, he naturally cannot wronged himself and his family financially.
For example, in furniture, Oman advocates buying all brand-name furniture, but Fiona is not in favor.
She advocated using cheap furniture, but in the end her husband insisted on going his own way and bought a lot of high-end furniture.
In addition, they have also disagreed on the issue of residence.
The homestay they rented was expensive, so Fiona negotiated with her husband to change to a cheaper house.
Since Oman couldn't read and couldn't speak English, the matter of renting a house fell on Fiona.
Cheshire Crewe is a remote town with a small population and few listings.
Fiona struggled to find a suitable house, and when they went to see the house together, Aman was very disgusted with the house and said:
"The house is so small and there's nothing in the house, I don't want to live here. Why did you pick such a house? ”
Fiona felt extremely aggrieved, it was the most suitable house she could find, but she was rejected by her husband. So, the couple had a big fight.
In the end, Aman compromised in the face of reality, and after the homestay was returned, the family moved into the small house.
After solving the residency problem, the couple continued to look for work.
The current situation
Fiona's original plan was to find a job as a teacher in the UK and continue her career in education.
Although she has a graduate degree, because of the visa problem, she has submitted a lot of resumes.
In the end, Fiona had to compromise with reality and go to work in a biscuit factory.
The situation in Oman is even worse, he does not know English, does not speak English, and it is very difficult to communicate with others.
He had originally intended to continue working as a driver, but he did not have a British driving licence and was not qualified to pursue a career in the industry.
Oman even submitted his resume to McDonald's, but the result was a sinking resume.
In the end, Oman had to go to deliver food to earn living expenses.
Oman is unfamiliar with british routes and relies on navigation every time.
He earns about £50 a day, around £300 a day on a six-day job and around £1,200 a month.
Fiona's income is only a drop in the bucket, and the family's income level cannot meet the living expenses of a family of four.
Fortunately, Fiona's ability to work was appreciated, and she was promoted from front-line staff to civilian positions.
Fiona's job is to use her connections in Hong Kong's immigration circles to introduce unemployed people from Hong Kong immigrants to factories.
In this way, it not only meets the recruitment needs of the factory, but also helps Hong Kong immigrants find jobs and subsidizes their families with wages.
At work, Fiona discovered a phenomenon that surprised her, and Fiona found that many of these Hong Kong immigrants were like her experience.
Even if they once had a glamorous career or high education in Hong Kong, when they arrived in the UK, they still face the risk of losing their jobs and not being able to find a decent job.
Some of them were former dentists, some were former Hong Kong parliamentarians, and some were doctors and masters.
But without exception, they gave up the rich life in Hong Kong, and now they can't find a job, so they have to come to the factory to work to make ends meet.
Fiona felt empathy for what had happened to them.
Soon after, Fiona decided to sign a long-term contract with her due to her excellent work ability, Fiona also transformed into a regular employee, and her life slowly settled down.
However, the family's BNO visa could not be passed, and the family was never able to officially settle in the UK.
The couple often quarreled over trivial matters in life, and in the past few months in the UK, both people were like changed people, often throwing tantrums at each other.
Fiona and Aman also gradually developed a rift, and the quarrel consumed too much of their feelings.
They even thought of divorce, something they had never thought of before coming to the UK.
Fiona has also been shaken, wondering if she was wrong to immigrate to the UK in the first place, and whether she should return to Hong Kong to start over.
My daughter is also often clamoring to return to Hong Kong, she attends a British school, the language barrier, different learning habits, it is difficult to adapt to the British side of the learning environment.
Fiona also wants to live in Hong Kong, with a Filipino maid taking care of the children, and the Filipino maid also helping with housework and cooking.
She could still take a break in her free time, and now she has no time of her own.
She now wakes up at six o'clock every morning and commutes for two hours to work.
After work, Fiona goes to pick up her daughter from school and help her with her homework.
In addition, Fiona prepares dinner for her family and organizes the housework.
Day by day, Fiona completely loses herself, and the focus of her life can only revolve around her family and work, which makes her very depressed.
But the idea of returning to Hong Kong was interrupted by her husband, and Aman decided to stick with it.
Their sunk costs are too high, they have spent a total of £50,000 on their savings in Hong Kong, and they have nothing to return to Hong Kong.
Aman said: "Since there is nothing there, it is better to stick to it in Britain, maybe we can see the light." ”
Aman once said that even if he was a beggar in England, he would stay, and now his life is really as embarrassing as he once said, and the family lives a life of poverty.
Many people say, "The moon in a foreign country is rounder than in the country." ”
But what they don't know is that when they really step out of the country, without the motherland as a backing, their lives are no different from fiona's family, and they can only eat their own bitter fruits and pay for their own actions.
Life is a train without a return ticket, when you are desperate to escape from your original life trajectory, you must also be mentally prepared to be responsible for it, the moon in foreign countries is no more round than in China.
Resources:
Documentary "One Way"
"Records of Hong Kong People Moving to England - Teacher's Cake Factory As a Worker, Colleagues Include Hong Kong Champions, Dentists, and Former District Councillors" - Sing Tao Daily