The first group of around 600 Hongkongers have received settlement in the United Kingdom as of June, after the British government introduced a tailored pathway for residents in 2021, according to the country’s authorities.
The Home Office, which handles UK immigration, revealed on Thursday the figures under the British National (Overseas), or BN(O), visa scheme, which typically requires these passport holders from Hong Kong to have five years of continuous residence in the country before becoming eligible for permanent settlement.
“While numbers remain relatively small, nearly 600 individuals on the BN(O) route were granted settlement in the year ending June 2025,” the office said in its quarterly figures for immigration.
“Some individuals may be qualifying earlier where time spent on other eligible visa routes, prior to moving onto the BN(O) route, counts towards their five-year residence period.”
The office added that around 166,300 people had arrived in the UK under the scheme as of June – an increase of 2,900 individuals, or 1.8 per cent, from 163,400 in March.
As of June, 181,609 out-of-country visas and 46,256 in-country extensions have been granted.
The office highlighted that BN(O) visa applications, grants and arrivals had continued to decrease since 2021.
Britain introduced the scheme in January 2021 for Hong Kong residents, and said it was in response to Beijing’s imposition of a national security law on the city.
The scheme allows successful applicants and their dependants to live, work and study in the UK for up to five years. After this period, they can apply for permanent residency and then British citizenship following one more year.
About 5.4 million of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million people are eligible for the scheme.
However, on May 12, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled proposals aimed at reducing net immigration to the country.
The announcement followed a record surge in net migration from overseas to the UK, which exceeded 900,000 people in the year ending June 2023, quadrupling from 224,000 in June 2019.
Under the plans outlined in a new white paper to tighten immigration policies, the standard qualifying period for settlement will be doubled from five years to 10.
But the white paper did not state whether Hongkongers who had already relocated or planned to settle in the UK under the BN(O) pathway would be affected by the changes.
The UK Parliament has scheduled a debate on September 8 over a petition to exempt the BN(O) visa for Hongkongers from the proposed immigration reforms.
