The United Kingdom has expanded its British National (Overseas) visa route, allowing thousands more Hong Kong residents to apply to settle in the country, the government announced on Monday.
Under the new arrangement, adult children of BN(O) status holders who were under the age of 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997 will now be eligible to apply independently of their parents.
Their partners and children will also be permitted to relocate to the UK under the expanded scheme.
The UK government estimates that about 26,000 people could move to the country over the next five years as a result of the change.
The expansion comes amid what British officials described as a continued deterioration of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, citing the recent sentencing of British citizen and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison under Beijing’s National Security Law.
A statement published on the UK government website said the move reflects Britain’s historic commitment to the people of Hong Kong. Officials said the sentencing of Mr Lai highlights growing repression in the territory.
According to the statement, the Prime Minister raised Mr Lai’s case directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a recent visit, opening discussions on the UK’s concerns at the highest diplomatic level. The government said it would continue to engage with China following the sentencing.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the UK had already provided a safe haven to nearly 170,000 Hong Kong residents since the BN(O) route was launched in 2021.
“In the face of the continued deterioration of rights and freedoms, we are now expanding eligibility so more families can build new lives here,” she said, adding that the British people would continue to welcome those in genuine need of protection.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the expansion would ensure that young people who previously missed out on resettlement due to age restrictions are now covered.
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Since the introduction of the BN(O) visa route, more than 230,000 people have been granted visas, with nearly 170,000 already arriving in the UK. Officials noted that the policy change addresses previous gaps that led to families being separated, with some children eligible to resettle while others were not.
The announcement forms part of wider reforms to the UK asylum system aimed at creating new humanitarian pathways for people fleeing conflict and persecution, while providing safe and legal alternatives to irregular migration.
The government also highlighted other resettlement efforts, including the extension of the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme for another year, which supports about 310,000 Ukrainians and their families, and the resettlement of more than 37,000 Afghans since 2021, including thousands who assisted British forces during operations in Afghanistan.