Registration for BN(O) status was limited to the 10-year period preceding the transfer as a transitional arrangement for former BDTCs; current residents cannot newly acquire this nationality.
Following the Chinese government's imposition of controversial national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, the UK has allowed BN(O)s and their dependent family members to apply for a renewable 5-year residence visa since 31 January 2021.
This nationality gives its holders favoured status when they are resident in the United Kingdom, conferring eligibility to vote, obtain citizenship under a simplified process, and serve in public office or government positions.
[1] However, the Chinese government does not recognise these passports as valid travel documents and restricts BN(O)s from accessing British consular protection from diplomatic missions located in Hong Kong and mainland China at the same year.
[6] The colonial government could not grant new land leases in the New Territories past 1997, causing concern among local businesses over the long-term viability of further real estate investment.
[9] The British government attempted to negotiate an extension of its administration of Hong Kong past 1997, but pivoted towards ensuring the city's stability when it became clear that the Chinese authorities would not allow this.
Hong Kong would become a special administrative region governed under Chinese sovereignty with a high level of autonomy in local affairs and its residents were to retain civil liberties such as freedom of speech, assembly, and religion after the transfer.
[11] Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKCs) had the unrestricted right to enter and live in the UK,[12] although non-white immigration was systemically discouraged.
Proponents argued that giving Hongkongers the right of abode as an "insurance policy" to protect against a potential curbing of civil freedoms by communist authorities after the handover would encourage them to stay in the territory and help prevent a mounting brain drain.
[28][29] Legislative Councillors and their supporters in Parliament unfavourably compared these nationality arrangements to the situation in Macau, where residents were allowed to retain Portuguese citizenship and right of abode after that territory's transfer to China in 1999.
While the number of annual departures remained steady for most of the decade and only started to increase towards its end,[30] the outflow grew dramatically following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
[31] The brutality of the Chinese government's response against demonstrations for democracy immediately dimmed local optimism in Hong Kong's future, indicated by a sudden drop in stock market and property values.
Even though BDTC status would expire after the handover in 1997 and carried no entitlement to UK right of abode, over 54,000 people applied for it on the final registration date in 1996[35] because the status qualified them to register as BN(O)s.[36] Despite petitions from Governors David Wilson and Chris Patten asking for full citizenship to be conferred on the colony's residents,[37][38] Parliament ultimately refused to grant all Hongkongers right of abode in the United Kingdom, citing difficulty in absorbing a large number of new citizens and that doing so would contradict the Joint Declaration.
[39] Because many departing residents were well-educated and held critical positions in medicine, finance, and engineering, the intention of the plan was to convince people within this professional core of Hong Kong's economy to remain in the territory after 1997.
[40] On the other hand, the Chinese government considers even these restricted grants to be a breach of the treaty[41] and specifically disregards the British citizenship of those who obtained it under the BNSS.
[42] Legislative Councillors derided the Selection Scheme as a thinly veiled attempt by the British government to absorb only the wealthy and well-educated elite[43][44] and accused the UK of abandoning the moral responsibility it had for subjects in the colony.
[57] Some residents sold these documents to people smugglers, who used them to assist illegal mainland Chinese migrants in passing through border control when they entered Western countries.
[67] The United Kingdom, along with its EU,[68] Five Eyes,[69][70] and G7 allies,[71] further condemned the legislation as a severe violation of the Joint Declaration that inherently undermines the system of self-government promised to Hong Kong and the fundamental rights of its residents.
[72] The Home Office initially announced that the existing six-month stay limit on BN(O)s would be extended to renewable periods of 12 months with the right to work.
[75] This was implemented as the eponymously named "British National (Overseas) visa", a residence permit that BN(O)s and their dependent family members have been able to apply for since 31 January 2021.
[76][77] BN(O)s and their dependents who arrived in the UK before the new immigration route became available were granted "Leave Outside the Rules" at the discretion of the Border Force to remain in the country for up to six months as a temporary measure.
[81] Countering the expanded access to UK citizenship, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments withdrew their recognition of BN(O) passports as valid travel documents for immigration clearance.
[97] They and their dependent family members are eligible to apply for the "British National (Overseas) visa", an indefinitely renewable residence permit valid for either a period of 30 months or 5 years.
[99] These include exemption from registration with local police,[100] voting eligibility in UK elections,[101] and the ability to enlist in the British Armed Forces.
[36] They are ineligible for the Registered Traveller service, which enables expedited clearance through British immigration, despite the eligibility of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport holders.
[21] As an additional consequence, Hongkongers seeking early pre-retirement withdrawals from the Mandatory Provident Fund pension scheme may not use BN(O) passports for identity verification.
[124] Non-Chinese nationals who hold permanent residency or citizenship outside of Hong Kong and have not returned to the territory for more than three years at any time since the transfer of sovereignty automatically lose their right of abode.
[127] Similarly, while full British citizens may continue to exercise freedom of movement in Ireland (part of the Common Travel Area with the UK), BN(O)s do not have this right.