Hong Kong BN(O) visa

The BN(O) route, opened in January 2021, is unlike any work or family visa: eligibility turns on who you are, not what you earn. Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers have used it, and the first arrivals began reaching settlement in 2026.

Who qualifies

The anchor is BN(O) status — held by people from Hong Kong who registered as British Nationals (Overseas) before 1 July 1997. The status is held for life; you do not need a valid BN(O) passport, only proof of status and an identity document such as an HKSAR passport. A status holder’s application covers their partner and children under 18, and in defined cases other dependent relatives. Separately, adult children of BN(O) status holders born on or after 1 July 1997 — who could never register themselves — have their own household-member route and can now apply independently of their parents.

What the visa gives you

Full work and study rights with no sponsor, no salary threshold and no English test at the application stage. You choose the length: 30 months (£206) or 5 years (£285) — the fee is the same inside or outside the UK, and each family member pays separately. The real cost is the Immigration Health Surcharge (£1,035 per adult per year, £776 per child), paid upfront for the whole period: for families, budget the IHS first and the visa fee last. You must show funds to support the household for six months; this is waived once you have been in the UK for 12 months.

The 5+1 path

Five years of continuous residence (within the 180-days-in-any-12-months absence rule) leads to ILR, with English at B1 and the Life in the UK test at that stage — and note that the March 2027 rise to B2 announced for many settlement routes does not list the BN(O) route, so BN(O) settlement stays at B1 unless a future change says otherwise. From 8 October 2026, under Statement of Changes HC 584, dependent children under 18 no longer need their own five years of continuous residence: they can settle alongside their parents when the parents qualify. People on the 30-month grant simply extend once to reach the five years. On the “earned settlement” debate, ministers have indicated an intention to protect the BN(O) route’s five-year timeline, but nothing is law yet.