Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to take steps to reduce the limited leave to remain period from five years to three years on the British National (Overseas) visa scheme for Hong Kongers, considering the finding of the Welcoming Committee for Hong Kongers in its report From HK to UK: Hong Kongers’ new lives in Britain, published in November, that 99 per cent of Hong Kongers who hold a British National (Overseas) visa intend to apply for British citizenship.

The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route is a generous offer, reflecting the UK’s moral and historic commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK, by obtaining BN(O) status before Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997.

After five years in the UK, those on the route can choose whether to apply for indefinite leave to remain, and after obtaining that will be eligible to apply for British citizenship, generally after a further 12 months’ residence. The Government currently has no plans to change the way we grant permission on the BN(O) route.