This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Petition Give British Nationals (Overseas) immediate entitlement to British citizenship
We want the UK Government to grant British Citizenship to the Hong Kong people holding the valid British National (Overseas) passports immediately and unconditionally, instead of having these people applying for BNO visa scheme and then waiting for 5+1 years to apply for British Citizenship.
More details
This petition is based on the circumstances as follows:
1/ China has been found to breach the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
2/ Concerns that Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have failed to abide by their international human rights commitments and violate the universal rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people.
3/ Britain should never abdicate her moral responsibility to her former colonial subjects from Hong Kong.
This petition closed early because of a General Election Find out more on the Petitions Committee website
Government responded
This response was given on 1 November 2024
We remain committed to the BN(O) route, allowing BN(O)s and their families to live, study, and work in the UK. However, we have no plans to amend the law to grant immediate British citizenship.
The British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route allows those with BN(O) status and their eligible family members to come to the UK to live, study and work in virtually any capacity, on a pathway to acquiring British citizenship. The current requirements for a person with BN(O) status to gain citizenship are in line with those for naturalisation, allowing a person to demonstrate a continuing connection with the UK.
The UK, in its Memorandum following the Sino-British Joint Declaration 1984 on the future of Hong Kong, made a commitment that those who were British Dependent Territories Citizens only through a connection with Hong Kong would be eligible to retain a status which, without conferring the right of abode in the UK, would entitle them to continue to use passports issued by the UK Government. It is important that the UK upholds the commitments it made as part of the Joint Declaration. We therefore have no plans to amend the current law in regard to BN(O) status.
Nevertheless, we remain committed to the people of Hong Kong and to supporting BN(O) status holders and their family members who choose to come to the UK. After five years in the UK, those on the BN(O) route can apply for settlement, and after a further 12 months, they can apply for British citizenship under section 4(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981. Those applying under this section are not required to demonstrate the knowledge of English and knowledge of life in the United Kingdom requirements, and so are not required to pass the Life in the UK test or have an English language qualification in the same way as those applying for naturalisation. Information on applying for citizenship is available at: https://www.gov.uk/british-citizenship/how-to-apply.
There are also other circumstances where BN(O)s can be registered as British citizens:
• the British Nationality Hong Kong Act 1997 provides for the registration of British nationals who would otherwise be stateless and are ordinarily resident in Hong Kong; and
• BN(O)s can also apply for registration under section 4B of the 1981 Act if they do not have another citizenship or nationality.
Home Office