【Updated on October/2022】FAQs about Hong Kong BN(O) Visa & UK Education

The British government is introducing a new Hong Kong BN(O) Visa, providing an immigration route to BNO through which they will be allowed to reside, work and study in the UK, with a pathway to settlement and then full British Citizenship.

The Hong Kong BN(O) Visa route is open for applications from 31^st January 2021.

• The new Hong Kong BN(O) Visa will allow Hongkongers with BNO status to live, work and study in the UK for up to five years.
• Applicants will be required to pay a visa fee, and the Immigration Health Surcharge to use the National Health Service (NHS) – in the same way as other current visa applicants do.
• Applicants can apply for 5 years’ leave from the outset, or in two applications of 30 months’ leaves.
• Applicants can apply for the visa from Hong Kong or from within the UK.
• There will be no quota on numbers, nor will there be any skills tests or income requirements.

When applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain and British Citizenship, applicants must meet the rules for continuous residence – and this is where the idea of allowable absences comes in! These are the requirements about continuous residence under existing rules:

• When applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain: Allowable absences of up to 180 days in any 12-month period.
• When applying for British Citizenship: Allowable absences of up to 450 days within 5 years ^{(90 days per year on average)} before the application, and absences of up to 90 days the year before the application.

• Hong Kong BN(O) Visa: £250 (for a 5-Year Visa), £180 (for each 30-Month Visa)
• British Citizenship: £1,431 / Year (Adult Applicant), £1,214 / Year (Child Applicant under 18)
• Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS): £1035 / Year (Adult Applicant), £776 / Year (Child Applicant under 18) ^{(Effective from February 2024)}

The Hong Kong BN(O) Visa will last for up to 5 years. Applicants will have the option to apply for 5 years’ leave from the outset, or in two applications of 30 months’ leaves:

• The British National (Overseas) Status: It’s required that applicants hold BNO status, but they are not required to renew their BN(O) passports.
• Applicants must hold a valid passport that enables them to travel to the UK (ie. applicants can travel to the UK with a HKSAR Passport or a BN(O) Passport)
• Applicants must be ordinarily residents in Hong Kong.
• Applicants must demonstrate the ability to financially support themselves in the UK for a minimum of 6 months.
• Applicants must demonstrate the commitment to learn English – when applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain, your English proficiency must be at level B1 or above (that’s IELTS 4.0 or above).
• Applicants are required to take a tuberculosis test (TB test), in line with current visa regulations.
• Applicants shall have no serious criminal convictions.

BNO with their immediate family dependents (including their spouse/partner and children aged under 18) are welcome to relocate to the UK via the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa scheme. As long as one of the parents hold BNO status, children under 18 will be eligible to apply for a dependent visa, which will also allow them to live, work or study in the UK.

Child (18 or older) can apply as your dependant if they meet the following criteria:

• They are 18 or older at the date of application.
• They were born on or after 1^st July 1997.
• They normally live with you, unless they’re living away from home to study.

October/2022 Updates – Effective from 30^th November 2022, individuals aged 18 or over who were born on or after 1^st July 1997 and who have at least one BN(O) parent will be allowed to apply for the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa independently of their BN(O) parent. Partner and specified family members will be eligible to apply together with the applicant.

According to Welcome: a guide for Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa holders in the UK, if you’re applying to a state school, you should normally be resident within the UK before you apply for a school place. You can apply for a school place just before you move, but the place would not normally be allocated before you live in the country.

Under existing policies, British Citizens who live outside the UK will have to pay the international fees. If they’re to be eligible for local fees, the general rule is that students will need to demonstrate that they have resided in the UK for at least 3 years.

According to Welcome: a guide for Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa holders in the UK, students could be eligible for local fees after receiving Indefinite Leave to Remain. As universities control their own admissions policies and requirements independently from the Government, you’re advised to keep an eye on the latest policy updates from universities.

Below is a comparison of the current local and international fees:

When applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain and British Citizenship, applicants must meet the rules for continuous residence – and this is where the idea of allowable absences comes in! These are the requirements about continuous residence under existing rules:

• When applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain: Allowable absences of up to 180 days in any 12-month period.
• When applying for British Citizenship: Allowable absences of up to 450 days within 5 years ^{(90 days per year on average)} before the application, and absences of up to 90 days the year before the application.

BNO parents who would like to enter the UK through LOTR and apply for a dependent visa for their children must also travel to the UK as a family unit.

The Leave Outside the Rules (LOTR) policy has ceased to apply after 19^th July 2021.

If you wish to relocate to the UK with your children and other dependents, you must apply together.

Every visa applicant will submit their own visa application. The main applicant will submit an online application first to get a application number (GWF/UAN). Your family members will then need to use your application number when they apply, and submit it within 2 days of your application.

Except for a few rare circumstances listed below, if your family member didn’t apply with you, they would not be granted a visa later. We strongly advise you consult an immigration expert or a lawyer, if you’re facing these exceptional circumstances!

• You start a new relationship when you have a BN(O) visa.
• Your child was born after you got your BN(O) visa.
• Your partner cannot travel when you apply, for example because of medical needs.
• If one parent moves to the UK first to arrange affairs, before the other parent and children join them.

If you use the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ to prove your identity, the processing time starts when you submit your online application. If you need to attend an appointment at a visa application centre, your application’s processing time starts once you have attended an appointment and you have submitted your fingerprint biometrics.

Your application may take longer to process if:

• The authority needs to request more information or supporting evidence from you.
• You do not have a valid tuberculosis (TB) certificate.
• You have a criminal conviction for an offence that is recognised in the UK.
• You are applying as a family group and one or more members of the family are required to attend a visa application centre.

An academic year starts in September in the UK education system. Schools and colleges normally start teaching from the first week of September, while universities start in September or October.

If you need to apply for a Student Visa, you will need to be sponsored by a school or an university to obtain a visa doucment (CAS) to apply. As the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa doesn’t need to be sponsored by a school or an university, you can deal with your school application and visa application concurrently.

If you’re planning to study in the UK (attending an independent primary and secondary school or a university), we normally advise you to start the process a year in advance (ie. if you plan to start in September 2022, do get in touch with us in September 2021). If circumstances allow, do budget 3-4 months for your school application, so that you won’t have to rush your decisions. For urgent cases, a school application can complete in 2-4 weeks, if you, your school and us work together and get everything right.

If you’d like to know more about the application procedures for different types of institutions, do have a look at the following sections on our website:

• Boarding School: Click Here
• Independent Day School: Click Here
• University: Click Here

You should be reminded that time spent in the UK under the Student Visa and Youth Mobility Scheme do not count towards the Continuous Residence requirement for settlement.

However, you will have to apply for an extension every time and the authority has the rights to refuse your application every time.

You can prove your Immigration Status either through the ‘View & Prove Service’ on the GOV.UK website, or with your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).

If you applied your Hong Kong BN(O) Visa via the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app, you will be able to find your unique ‘Share Code’ via the ‘View & Prove Service’ on the GOV.UK website. Your school will then be able to verify your status with your ‘Share Code’.