Hong Kong’s BN(O) holders’ 5-year pathway unaffected by UK immigration shake-up

The biggest shake-up of Britain’s immigration system in nearly half a century will not affect a five-year pathway for Hongkongers to permanent settlement, the UK government has said.

The British government on Thursday unveiled a major shift in its profile for legal migrants, prioritising those contributing to the UK economy and playing by the rules, days after announcing the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in decades.

The government earlier announced it would double the permanent settlement qualifying period for migrants to 10 years, with reduced waits for those who made “a strong contribution to British life”.

British authorities said that immediate family members of UK citizens and Hongkongers under the British National (Overseas) scheme were among those who would retain the existing five-year pathway to settlement.

The changes will apply to nearly 2 million migrants who arrived in the United Kingdom since 2021, subject to consultation on transitional arrangements for borderline cases.

The measures will not apply to those with existing settled status who have made their lives here.