Over 180,000 Hong Kongers apply for UK’s BNO visa

A total of 182,600 people have applied for the British National (Overseas) visa in the two-and-a-half years since applications opened.

In the last quarter, April to June 2023, there were 9,800 applications, a similar number to the preceding two quarters.

According to the new Home Office statistics which were released today, over 150,000 Hong Kongers have entered the country on the visa since it was announced in July 2020.

Benedict Rogers, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Watch said: “The BNO visa represents a crucial lifeline for Hong Kongers as freedoms and rights in the city drastically deteriorate.

“As we saw last month, the National Security Law is being used extraterritorially with overseas activists now having bounties placed on their heads in an attempt to silence all criticism.

“Expansion of the visa at the end of 2022 to Hong Kongers born after 1997 was a very welcome move by the UK government, as was the recent introduction of a priority service for BNO visa applications who urgently need to leave the city.

“But we must not forget those who still do not have a route out of the city, including those who are facing excruciating waits in the UK asylum system.

“We will work ceaselessly with like-minded governments to push for lifeboat schemes for Hong Kongers who are still not covered by any of the visa schemes currently available.”

Since the start of 2020, 256 people from Hong Kong have applied for asylum or humanitarian protection in the UK, but only 28 claims have been so far granted.  

The news follows last month’s expansion of Canada’s Stream B Pathway for Hong Kongers, which will remove the education requirement for those Hong Kongers who have moved to Canada under the Open Work Permit to gain permanent residency.

The BNO visa allows British National (Overseas) status holders and their dependents to live, work, and study in the UK for five years, after which point they can apply for settlement, and then will be eligible for British citizenship one year after.

The Home Office Impact Assessment on the BNO visa policy published in October 2020 estimated 258,000 to 322,400 people from Hong Kong will arrive over the first five years of the scheme.