Hong Kong’s Immigration Department says official documents proving Lily’s family relationship can be submitted to advance her passport application.
Lily’s parents want the department to use its discretion to issue her a passport before DNA testing in Hong Kong, so she can return. The department said it had told Swedish authorities that the relevant parties were willing to submit a genetic test report to establish their relationship to her.
Lily was about two when she was taken into care in Sweden at the end of 2023 and placed with a foster family. A guardianship order remains in force, preventing her parents from contacting her. Her parents have returned to Hong Kong, while Lily remains in Sweden.
Her parents said the Swedish Migration Agency had told them it could not collect a DNA sample from Lily as requested by Hong Kong, and would not execute a removal order for now. They said they feared a Swedish court could formally award custody to her foster family, leaving her unable to return to Hong Kong to reunite with them.
The parents expect a Swedish court to hear Lily’s custody case next month. They said they would apply for an urgent judicial review in Hong Kong if they had not received a response from the Immigration Department by 1pm on Friday, October 16.