BNO scheme expansion for adult children of BNO passport holders goes into effect
As of yesterday, 8 April 2026, the British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) visa policy has been expanded to include children of BN(O) status holders who were children at the time of the handover on 1 July 1997. The expansion is expected to help 26,000 Hong Kongers reunite with their families in the UK.
The move was announced on 9 February in response to the sentencing of pro-democracy media figure and UK citizen Jimmy Lai, following the conclusion of his national security trial in Hong Kong. According to the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules published by the Home Office on 5 March, the change would be put into effect from 8 April 2026.
Hong Kongers with at least one parent holding a BN(O) passport, who were aged under 18 at the time of the handover, are now eligible to apply for the BN(O) visa scheme, regardless of whether they hold a BN(O) passport themselves.
Hong Kong Watch campaigned to ‘close the gap’ in the BNO scheme for the past three years. We published a briefing calling on the UK government to ‘close the gap’ in the BNO scheme on 1 July 2024. Following persistent campaigning, 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. The implementation of the expansion, after three years of effort, stands as a hard-won result of our campaigning and advocacy work.
BNO簽證正式拓展至香港主權移交時未成年BNO子女
由昨天（2026年4月8日）開始，BNO簽證政策正式拓展至涵蓋1997年7月1日主權移交時未滿18歲的BNO身分持有人子女。此舉料將幫助26,000名香港人與身在英國的家人團聚。
英國政府於2月9日宣布擴大計劃，回應當日香港親民主傳媒人兼英國公民黎智英的國安案件判刑。根據內政部於3月5日公布的《移民規則修訂聲明》，這項修訂將由2026年4月8日起生效。
父母其中一方持有BNO護照且在主權移交時未滿18歲的香港人現符合資格申請BNO簽證計劃，不論本人是否持有BNO護照。
香港監察在過去三年致力倡議修補BNO計劃的漏洞，務求將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。經過不懈倡議，2025年4月2日，香港監察團隊聯同國會議員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。經過三年努力，計劃終於實施擴大，這是我們得來不易的倡議工作成果。
Photo: Ethan Wilkinson on Unsplash