You can apply for a BNO visa if you’re 18 or older and either:

• A British national (overseas)
• The child of a British national (overseas) born on or after 1 July 1997

Your permanent home must be:

• In Hong Kong, if you’re applying from outside the UK
• In the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Hong Kong if you’re applying - in the UK

Your family members can apply for a BNO visa if they’re eligible. They must usually apply at the same time as you, unless they are your partner or your child under the age of 18.

You can apply to stay for either:

• 2 years and 6 months
• 5 years
• You will be able to extend your visa once you’re in the UK if you want to stay longer. You can apply to extend your visa as many times as you want.

After you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years, you can apply to live in the UK permanently.

What you can and cannot do:

You can:

• Work (except you cannot work as a professional sportsperson or sports coach)
• Study (including at school, college or university)

You cannot usually get the most benefits (public funds).

Once you have a BNO visa, you might be able to get access to benefits.

You’ll be eligible for this in certain financial circumstances, for example, if you:

• Do not have a place to live and cannot afford one
• Have a place to live but cannot afford essential living costs like food or heating
• Are at risk of losing your place to live or being unable to afford essential living costs
• Have a very low income, and not having access to benefits would harm your child’s wellbeing
• If you do get access to benefits, you can still apply to live in the UK permanently after 5 years.