Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to grant full British citizenship to Hong Kong (a) British National (Overseas) and (b) British Dependent Territories Citizen passport holders who move to the UK.

British National (Overseas) (BN(O) passport holders may apply for a BN(O) visa which entitles them, and their dependent family members, to reside in the UK. After 5 years’ qualifying residence, and being free from immigration time restrictions for a further year, they may apply for British citizenship.

People from Hong Kong who were British Dependent Territories Citizens (BDTCs), and did not register as a BN(O), lost their BDTC status when Hong Kong returned to the People’s Republic of China on 1 July 1997. If a person from Hong Kong did not register as a BN(O) and would have become stateless, they became a British Overseas Citizen (BOC).

British nationals, including BN(O)s and BOCs, can apply for registration as a British citizen if they meet the requirements in section 4(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981, based on a period of residence in the UK. Those who do not hold a form of British nationality can apply for naturalisation if they live in the UK.