CFA grants dependent visa to same-sex partners

Same-sex marriage or civil partnership is now recognized for dependent-visa applications in Hong Kong after the city’s highest court on Wednesday unanimously ruled in favor of a British homosexual couple whose application was turned down by the Immigration Department.

However, the Court of Final Appeal ruling will not change the city’s legal definition of marriage, which only allows heterosexual marriage registration.

The case sets a precedent for multinational companies and institutions seeking to recruit talent or relocate staff.

A British woman, known as QT, was rejected for a dependent visa after her spouse, known as SS, secured employment and moved to Hong Kong in 2011, since the city’s Immigration Department found the applicant, who is in a same-sex civil partnership granted in the United Kingdom, does not comply with existing policies.

The Court of Final Appeal dismissed Immigration Department’s appeal, reasoning that the existing policy, which only grants heterosexual spouses dependent visas in accordance with the city’s marriage definition, contradicts the department’s objective — to attract talents to the city.

And there is no rational connection between the policy and the two major objectives of the Immigration Department — attracting overseas talent and maintaining strict immigration control, the court ruled.

According to the ruling, the policy ran counter to the aim of encouraging talent to join the city’s workforce since a person who has the talent or skills deemed needed or desirable could be straight or gay.

The court noted that this final appeal does not mean same-sex couples have a right to marry under Hong Kong law.

Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu said the Hong Kong government respects the decision of the court. Colleagues from the Immigration Department and the Department of Justice will study the judgment in detail and follow up the issues involved.