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This petition was submitted during the 2019 to 2024 Parliament

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Closed Give British Nationals (Overseas) immediate entitlement to British citizenship

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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.

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.

10,229 signatures

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100,000

Petition progress

View all updates for this petition, with the most recent first.

  • Related activity

    Original response

    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.

    This response was given on 1 November 2024. The Petitions Committee then requested a revised response, that more directly addressed the request of the petition.

  • Government responded to this petition

    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.

    Read the response in full

    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 (BNA). Section 4(2) of the BNA 1981 does not have a knowledge of language and life in the UK (KoLL) requirement, but BN(O) status holders who are in the UK on the BN(O) route, will need to demonstrate that they have sufficient knowledge of English and life in the United Kingdom to qualify for settlement.

    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

  • Related activity

    Petitions Committee requests a revised response from the Government

    The Petitions Committee (the group of MPs who oversee the petitions system) has considered the Government’s response to this petition. They felt the response did not respond directly to the request of the petition. They have therefore asked the Government to provide a revised response.

    When the Committee receives a revised response from the Government, we will publish this and share it with you.

  • Petition closed

  • Government will respond to this petition

    This petition got more than 10,000 signatures meaning that government will respond to it.

  • Petition published

    This petition can now be signed.

    If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

    If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

    This petition will stay open until 30 May 2024.