Scotland Welcome Pack for British Nationals (Overseas) from Hong Kong

Your status once you have been granted the BN(O) visa

The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa route was launched on 31 January 2021 and enables British National (Overseas) citizens ordinarily resident in Hong Kong, and their immediate family members, to study or work in the UK without needing to meet additional criteria.

Your status

If you have been granted the BN(O) visa it means that:

• You and your eligible family members will be able to come to the UK to live, study and work in virtually any capacity, on a pathway to citizenship. After five years in the UK, you and your family members will be able to apply for settlement, followed by citizenship after a further twelve months.
• You can access public services e.g. healthcare and schools
• You can work
• You will have “No Recourse to Public Funds” but can apply to change this in exceptional circumstances

Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)

Once you have been granted the BN(O) visa, depending on how you applied you will either be able to view immigration status information online or receive a sticker (called a ‘vignette’) that goes in your passport.

If you have a vignette, you have to collect a biometric residence permit (BRP) after you arrive. You must do this before the vignette sticker expires or within 10 days of arriving in the UK, whichever is later. You will choose where to collect your BRP from during your application.

Your BRP will include:

• your name, date and place of birth
• your fingerprints and a photo of your face (this is your biometric information)
• your immigration status and any conditions of your stay
• whether you can access public funds, for example benefits and health services

Please keep your BRP safe as it is evidence of your legal status in the UK and shows how long you may stay in the UK for.

Digital immigration status

If you applied for the BN(O) visa online using the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to scan your BNO, HKSAR or EEA passport, you will not receive a vignette and you will not need to collect a BRP. Instead, you will be able to view your immigration status information online.

You can also use the online service to share your immigration status information with others, for example employers or universities. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status.

Your online status will show:

• your name, date and place of birth
• your immigration status and any conditions of your stay
• the dates your visa is valid (start date and end date)

As BN(O) status holders you are entitled to live where you want in the UK.