Key facts
- BN(O) holders keep the five-year settlement route while the baseline for most migrants doubles to 10 years, Mahmood said.
- Mahmood said BN(O) applicants must meet a B2 English standard and stricter criminal record checks.
- The UK Home Office told Green Bean the five-year commitment to BN(O) holders was unchanged, with new general requirements applying.
- Children, people aged 65 or above and those unable to meet the English requirement for health reasons stay exempt, the Home Office said.
- Hong Kong Watch said it was disappointed and cited families who planned around the existing system.
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set out a sweeping overhaul of immigration rules in parliament on November 2, under which the baseline residence period for most migrants to qualify for permanent residence doubles from five to 10 years, with the measures applying retrospectively to migrants already in the country.
Hongkongers in the UK under the British National (Overseas) visa scheme keep a five-year route to permanent residence, but Mahmood said in answer to questions in parliament that BN(O) applicants would face a higher B2 English-language standard and stricter criminal record checks.
As of November 3, the BN(O) guidance on the UK government website still stated that settlement applicants needed only the lower B1 level, Lianhe Zaobao reported. In two responses that day to enquiries from Green Bean, an online outlet serving overseas Hongkongers, the Home Office said the commitment to BN(O) holders was unchanged and that those who meet the requirements can still apply after five years, subject to the new general settlement requirements unless exemptions or safeguards apply.
The Home Office said children, people aged 65 or above, and those unable to meet the English requirement because of a physical or mental condition remain exempt. It said it would keep discretion in assessing criminal records to account for differences between judicial systems, including conduct criminalized overseas that is not an offense in the UK.
Hong Kong Watch said in a statement it was disappointed by the higher settlement requirements and was concerned about Hong Kong families who had planned their lives around the existing system. Dandelion Solidarity CIC, founded by former Kwai Tsing district councillor Kwok Tsz-kin, wrote to Mahmood on November 2 about the impact on Hongkongers convicted over political activity in Hong Kong, warning that without a distinction for politically motivated convictions some could lose their chance to settle.
Hong Kong Free Press reported that BN(O) holders are exempt from the 10-year proposal from 2027 but must hold no government debt, and that migrants earning at least £50,000 a year, including doctors, nurses and teachers, wait five years, while those earning above £125,000 can apply after three years. It said more than 187,000 people have been issued the visa, while Lianhe Zaobao put the number who have moved to the UK under the scheme at about 170,000.