BNO scheme expanded for adult children of BNO passport holders
Today, Home Office Ministers have expanded eligibility for the British National (Overseas) scheme to adult children of British National (overseas) (BNO) status holders who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The move comes as a response to the 20-year prison sentence handed down today to the pro-democracy activist and political prisoner Jimmy Lai.
Hong Kong Watch has campaigned to ‘close the gap’ in the BNO scheme for the past three years.
On 1 July 2024, we published a briefing calling on the UK government to ‘close the gap’ in the BNO scheme for those born between 1 July 1979 and 30 June 1997, who were children at the time of the handover and had no ability to apply for BNO status themselves. You can read the full briefing, Closing the Gap: Extending the BNO Scheme to those Born before 1997, here.
Since then we have met with over 50 Members of Parliament to discuss this issue and raised our concerns with Home Office policy staff regularly. We organised a letter to the Minister with the assistance of Charlotte Nichols, Labour MP for Warrington North, and Sarah Hall, Labour MP for Warrington South, requesting a ministerial meeting, which was supported by 13 Parliamentarians from all three major parties.
On 2 April 2025, members of the Hong Kong Watch team met with the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office) and Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra MP, alongside Charlotte Nichols MP and Sarah Hall MP, to raise concerns over this gap in the BNO scheme.
On 17 December 2025, our Patron James Naish MP wrote to the Minister for Migration and Citizenship Mike Tapp MP to raise the expansion of the BNO scheme among other concerns over eligibility on the scheme.
Thomas Benson, Senior Research and Policy Advisor at Hong Kong Watch, commented:
“We have been raising this issue with the Home Office for over two years, and we are pleased that BNO families split by the eligibility gap will finally be able to reunite in the UK. It is sad, of course, that it has taken the sentencing of Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison for this move to be made, and he remains in our thoughts. Nevertheless, for thousands of children of BNOs who have been separated from their families, unable to leave Hong Kong, this is heartwarming news, and we are pleased to see this gap in the BNO policy finally closed.”
回應黎智英案判刑 英政府宣布拓展BNO簽證至主權移交時未成年BNO子女
今日有報導指，英國內政部決定擴大BNO簽證計劃，讓1997年香港主權移交時未滿18歲的BNO身分持有人子女符合資格申請。
此舉是對今日民主運動人士兼政治犯黎智英被判處20年監禁刑期的回應。
香港監察在過去三年致力倡議修補BNO簽證計劃的漏洞，務求將1997年主權移交前出生的香港人納入在內。
2024年7月1日，我們發表政策簡報，呼籲英國政府修補BNO計劃的漏洞，納入1979年7月1日至1997年6月30日期間出生，亦即主權移交時仍是兒童，無法自行申請BNO身分的人士。簡報全文《Closing the Gap: Extending the BNO Scheme to those Born before 1997》可在此處閱讀。
此後，我們與超過50位國會議員會面討論這項議題，並定期向內政部政策職員反映憂慮。我們亦在北窩寧頓（Warrington North）選區國會議員Charlotte Nichols MP和南窩寧頓（Warrington South）選區Sarah Hall MP的協助下，去信內政部請求會面，有關信件得到13位來自三大政黨議員的支持。
2025年4月2日，香港監察團隊聯同Charlotte Nichols MP和Sarah Hall MP會晤時任內政部移民及公民事務大臣Seema Malhotra MP，就BNO計劃的漏洞提出憂慮。
2025年12月17日，香港監察贊助人James Naish MP去信內政部移民及公民事務大臣Mike Tapp MP，就拓展BNO計劃及BNO港人定居資格問題提出憂慮。
香港監察資深研究及政策顧問湯柏森（Thomas Benson）指出：
「香港監察兩年多來一直向內政部倡議擴大BNO計劃，今日很高興看到因資格漏洞而被迫分隔兩地的BNO家庭終於有機會在英國團聚。當然，令人難過的是，這項政策突破是因應黎智英被判處20年刑期而採取的，我們仍然顧念他。然而，對於成千上萬與家人分離、無法離開香港的BNO子女來說，這無疑是個令人欣慰的消息。我們很高興看到這項BNO政策漏洞終於被修補。」
Photo: Caspar Rae on Unsplash