A new Statement of Changes to the immigration rules was laid before Parliament on 18 October 2022. Amongst the changes set to be introduced is the expansion of the Hong Kong BN(O) visa route.

The BN(O) route was first opened in January 2021 to Hong Kong British National (Overseas) passport holders in response to national security laws imposed on Hong Kong by China. Since its introduction, it has proved a popular route with a total of 140,500 applications being made since it opened on 31st January 2021, up to the end of June 2022.

In this previous article, we highlighted this proposed change in February 2022 when the then Minister for Safe and Legal Migration, Kevin Foster MP, announced the government’s plan to extend eligibility to the route. This proposal has now been confirmed and will come into effect on 30 November 2022.

What do the changes mean?

Under the current scheme you have to be a BN(O) passport holder (or their dependant) to be eligible to apply to the route. In order to be a BN(O) passport holder, it was necessary for British overseas territories citizens from Hong Kong to register as British Nationals (Overseas) by 30 June 1997. This meant that those individuals born to BN(O) parents from 1 July 1997 were not eligible to register. As a result, adult children of BN(O)s born on or after 1 July 1997 were excluded from the BN(O) visa route.

As of 30 November 2022, eligibility for the BN(O) visa route will extend to adult children of BN(O)s who meet the following criteria:

• They were born on or after 1 July 1997;
• They have at least one BN(O) parent;
• They are aged 18 or over; and
• They reside in Hong Kong, the UK or the Crown Dependencies.

Eligible applicants will be able to apply independently of their parents and will also be able to be joined by their own eligible dependents. The scheme is a route to settlement in the UK after five years continuous residence.

Should you need assistance applying to the BN(O) visa route, or understanding other available option, please contact a member of our immigration team for assistance.

https://perspectives.harpermacleod.co.uk/post/102husj/priority-visa-processing-reintroduced