Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of automatically issuing National Insurance numbers alongside the issuance of Hong Kong BNO visas.

DWP and Home Office officials continue to review and assess the best way to support BN(O)s seeking national insurance numbers upon entry to the UK. As it stands a BN(O) holder would be required to attend a face to face appointment where the DWP could validate and confirm their Identity and Right to Work. Due to Covid, the face to face NINo service is currently suspended.

You can apply for and start work without a National Insurance number if you can prove you can work in the UK. Employers are required to conduct mandatory Right to Work checks on all prospective employees. Having a NINo is not part of these checks, and the possession of a NINo does not prove that an individual has a right to work.