Hong Kong Londoners

If you are from Hong Kong and are a British National (Overseas) (BN(O), you and certain family members can apply for a British National (Overseas) visa (a BN(O) visa). It allows you to live, work and study in the UK.

However, you will not be able to claim state benefits (including Universal Credit), or to apply for housing or homelessness assistance from the local authority. This is because your visa will be subject to a condition known as “no recourse to public funds” (NRPF). If you are granted a BN(O) visa and later find yourself likely to require state benefits or housing assistance, you can apply for this condition to be lifted from your visa. Find out more.

You can apply for a BN(O) visa from within the UK, as long as you are currently here with lawful immigration status. Alternatively, you can apply from outside the UK ahead of entry; this is known as Entry Clearance.

Family members can apply for the BN(O) visa. They should apply at the same time as you. A dependant family member can include your:

• husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner
• child or grandchild under 18
• child 18 or older, born on or after 1 July 1997 (and their partner or child under 18)
• parent, grandparent, brother, sister, son or daughter (18 or older) if they live with you and they’re dependent on you because of illness, disability or their age.

Family members cannot usually join later if they do not apply at the same time as you. However, there are some exceptions for partners and dependent children under 18, or adult children who are able to make applications independent from their parents.

You can apply for a BN(O) visa lasting either 30 months (two-and-a-half years) or five years. If successful, you will be entitled to apply for settlement following five years of lawful residence in the UK.

If you were already living in the UK with a different type of status, you can still apply for settlement as a Hong Kong BN(O), as long as your most recent visa is the BN(O) visa. The only condition is that your existing status would lead to settlement if renewed. Therefore, if you have already been in the UK lawfully for two-and-a-half years, you may want to apply for the 30-month BN(O) visa, as opposed to the five-year one. This is because, by the time this 30-month visa has expired, you will have reached the qualifying timeframe for settlement.

Once you have been granted settlement, you can access state benefits. After completing 12 months on your settlement visa, you can also apply for full British citizenship.

There are two main routes to apply for the BN(O) visa depending on your circumstances:

1. BN(O) status holder route
2. BN(O) household member route.

The BN(O) status holder route is for a BN(O) citizen who is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong or the UK. It also applies to their dependent partner, children and grandchildren. In exceptional circumstances other family members with a high degree of dependency may also apply under this route.

The following requirements must be met by the principle BN(O) status holder route:

• you must apply online
• you must be a BN(O) status holder. If you are unsure of this, you should speak to a lawyer. Find out what types of British nationality there are.
• you must be ordinarily resident in Hong Kong or the UK at the time of application
• you must be over 18 at the date of the application (unless you are the child of the main applicant)
• you must be able to adequately support yourself and your dependants for six months without state assistance. This includes having somewhere to live, or the means to afford accommodation. There is no set level of funds that you must hold. Find out more.
  • if you already live in the UK, and have done so for 12 months or more, you will be considered to have met the financial requirement
• you must pay the fee, which is currently £180 for a 30-month visa or £250 for a five-year visa
• you must pay the Immigration Health Charge, which for those under 18 is £2,587.50 for a 30-month visa and £5,175 for a five-year visa, and for those over 18 is £1,940 for a 30-month visa and £3880 for a five-year visa
• you must provide a passport or other travel document to establish your identity and nationality
• you must not fall foul of the general grounds for refusal under the Immigration Rules, which essentially require you to be of good character. For a full list of the general grounds for refusal please see the Immigration Rules (Part 9)
• you must not currently be in the UK in breach of the Immigration Rules; or be on immigration bail (see section on bail)
• if you are applying from outside the UK, you must have obtained a certificate confirming that you do not have tuberculosis (TB).

Adult children can apply independently of their parents for a BN(O) status instead of the BN(O) household member route described below. This means the adult child does not need to be part of their parents’ household or apply at the same time as them. This applies to adult children those who:

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

Partners, dependent children, and adult dependent relatives of the adult child may also apply with them.

If you meet the requirements above, you will be granted a visa for either 30 months or five years, depending on the option you selected. If your application is refused you have the right to have your decision administratively reviewed by the Home Office. More information on administrative review is available on the government website.

The BN(O) household member route is for adult children of BN(O) citizens who were born on or after 1 July 1997; and who belong to the same household as the BN(O) citizen. Being part of the same household might include living together but can also include other circumstances. This route also applies to the adult child’s family members as follows:

• husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner
• child or grandchild under 18
• child 18 or older, born on or after 1 July 1997 (and their partner or child under 18)
• parent, grandparent, brother, sister, son or daughter (18 or older) if they live with you and they’re dependent on you because of illness, disability or their age.

The following requirements must be met for the BN(O) household member route:

• you must apply online
• you must pay the fee, which is currently £180 for a 30-month visa or £250 for a five-year visa
• you must pay the Immigration Health Charge, which for those under 18 is £2,587.50 for a 30-month visa and £5,175 for a five-year visa, and for those over 18 is £1,940 for a 30-month visa and £3880 for a five-year visa
• you must provide your biometric data (fingerprints and a photograph) when requested
• you must provide a passport or other travel document to establish your identity and nationality
• you must have been born on or after 1 July 1997
• you must be over 18 on the date of application (unless you are a child of the main applicant)
• you must meet both of the following instances:
  • be the child of a BN(O) status holder and
  • form part of the same household as the BN(O) status holder
• you must be able to meet the financial requirements. These are met in either of the following instances:
  • you have been living in the UK, with permission to do so, for 12 months or more
  • you or the BN(O) status holder can and will cover adequate maintenance and accommodation costs in the UK for at least six months without state assistance. This includes having somewhere to live, or the means to afford accommodation. There is no set level of funds that you must hold; find out more
• you must normally live in Hong Kong at the time of application; or already live in the UK
• you must not fall foul of the general grounds for refusal under the Immigration Rules, which essentially require you to be of good character. For a full list of the general grounds for refusal please see the Immigration Rules (Part 9)
• you must not currently be in the UK in breach of the Immigration Rules; or be on immigration bail (see section on bail)
• if you are applying from outside the UK, you must have obtained a certificate confirming that you are free of tuberculosis (TB).

If you are granted a visa on the basis of the BN(O) household member route, your visa will expire on the same date as that of the main BN(O) applicant whose household you belong to.

If you have an overseas conviction from outside of the UK, please speak to a lawyer to discuss how it may impact your application.

In some circumstances, an overseas conviction will not negatively impact your application. For instance, some overseas convictions do not have a direct equivalent in the UK and would not be recognised by the UK Government. For example, some convictions may be for offences which are not recognised crimes in the UK. Also, some overseas offences may carry a much higher penalty in China than an equivalent offence would in the UK. Such convictions would not count as automatic grounds for refusing your immigration application.

Please speak to an immigration lawyer before applying.