The UK Home Office expanded the British National (Overseas) BN(O) visa route on February 9, 2026, widening eligibility for Hong Kong residents after pro-democracy figure and British citizen Jimmy Lai received a 20-year prison sentence.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood framed the move as a response to conditions in Hong Kong and a way to keep families together. “This country will always honour its historic commitment to the people of Hong Kong. In the face of the continued deterioration of rights and freedoms, we are now expanding eligibility so more families can build new lives here,” Mahmood said.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the change targeted young people who had fallen into an age-related gap. “Though Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms continue to erode, this government’s support for its people remains steadfast, and that’s why we are ensuring that young people who missed out on resettlement protection because of their age will now be covered,” Cooper said.
The BN(O) visa route is the UK’s safe and legal pathway tied to BN(O) status and family members, designed to allow eligible Hong Kong residents to live in Britain under a dedicated immigration channel. Monday’s announcement expanded who can use that route, with the clearest impact for families who previously faced a split between siblings and across generations.
Under the new eligibility, adult children of BN(O) status holders who were under 18 at the time of the 1997 handover — born on or after July 1, 1997 — can apply independently of their parents. Their partners and dependent children are also eligible.
Independently, in practice, means the adult child can make their own application rather than relying on a parent to lead a family application. The change matters for young adults whose parents may not be moving to the UK, or who may not be able to relocate at the same time, while still allowing partners and dependent children to be included alongside the main applicant.
For families planning around the expansion, the core questions often turn on identity, family relationships, and dependency. Applicants typically need to show who they are, how they are related to a BN(O) status holder, and how partner and child relationships fit the family unit, along with evidence tied to dependency and household or residence links.
The expansion interacts with the original BN(O) route that opened in 2021 by keeping the route’s overall purpose intact while changing who can access it as a main applicant. The UK presented the adjustment as a fix for an eligibility gap that left some young adults outside the route even as other close family members could qualify.
For prospective applicants, the immediate planning issues include whether to apply as a family group or through an adult child applying independently, and how to document partner and dependent child ties in a way that matches the Home Office’s eligibility language. Families also often have to think through practical sequencing, including whether one person relocates first and others follow, and how to avoid breaks in documentation that later complicate schooling, housing and other basic administration.
The Home Office projected that 26,000 additional people will arrive in the UK over the next five years as a result of the change, a sign of the scale the government expects from the widened eligibility. That forecast also implies a multi-year planning horizon for families, local communities and services, because arrivals would not be concentrated into a single moment.
Since the original route opened in 2021, the Home Office said over 230,000 visas have been granted, with 170,000 people already relocated. The difference between those figures matters for how applicants interpret demand and timing: a visa grant reflects an approved status under the visa route, while relocation reflects people who have already moved, started settling, and begun the day-to-day process of building a life in the UK.
Those relocation patterns can shape practical decisions for new applicants, including where they might find established networks and community support, and how to budget for housing and school arrangements if they expect a longer transition. The published numbers also point to the administrative load that can build with sustained demand, which can affect how far ahead families choose to prepare their documents and decisions.
While the UK moved to expand access to its visa route, the U.S. government did not announce a similar new visa pathway and instead pointed to diplomatic condemnation and existing humanitarian protections for Hong Kong residents already in the United States. For Hong Kongers weighing options between countries, that contrast can shape what “protection” looks like in each system: a UK immigration route aimed at relocation, versus a U.S. posture that combines public statements with temporary protections from removal for people already present.
In a statement dated February 9, 2026, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned Lai’s sentence and called it an “unjust and tragic conclusion.” Rubio added: “It shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong. The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole.”
Separately, U.S. policy for eligible Hong Kong residents in the country currently runs through Deferred Enforced Departure, or DED, which provides temporary protection from removal for covered individuals and can support eligibility for work authorization. DED does not create a new immigration status on its own, and its practical value for families often turns on whether a person fits the coverage criteria and whether their work authorization remains valid.
A presidential memorandum extended DED for 24 months for eligible Hong Kong residents, keeping the policy in place as the U.S. government continued to cite rights and freedoms concerns connected to Hong Kong. For people already in the United States, the day-to-day implications can include whether an employment authorization document remains current and whether they need to track validity and renewal-related requirements tied to the protection.
USCIS said the current DED protection and associated employment authorization are valid through February 5, 2027. “This extension provides Hong Kong residents who are concerned about returning to Hong Kong with temporary safe haven in the United States,” USCIS said on Jan 27, 2026.
The Hong Kong measures unfolded against the backdrop of the case against Lai, which governments and rights advocates have closely watched as a signal of the direction of Hong Kong’s political climate. The 78-year-old media mogul received a 20-year sentence for “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” under the 2020 National Security Law.
International observers, including the UN and various Western governments, have characterized the trial as a “charade” intended to stifle press freedom. The UK’s move to widen eligibility in response to this moment tied immigration policy to broader concerns about rights and freedoms, while keeping its focus on who can access the BN(O) route and how families can move together.
The Home Office described the change as a way to close a “family split” issue. Under the earlier structure, younger siblings born after 1997 were often ineligible to move if their parents chose not to or could not relocate, while older siblings born before 1997 held BN(O) status.
That family split dynamic has shaped real decisions about timing and risk, including whether to divide a family unit across borders for work, schooling or safety, and how long a separation might last. The expansion aims to reduce those splits by letting certain young adults apply without waiting for a parent to lead a move, while still allowing partners and dependent children to come under the widened eligibility.
For many families considering the UK route, timing decisions often become as important as eligibility, particularly when different members face different obligations or constraints. Planning can involve deciding who moves first, how to maintain continuity in household documentation across countries, and how to anticipate practical needs such as school enrollment and housing arrangements as soon as relocation becomes realistic.
The UK government has pointed applicants to its own announcement as the authoritative summary of the BN(O) expansion, setting out the policy intent and the eligibility language for those deciding whether they qualify. The Home Office published details in its GOV.UK news release, Hong Kongers offered new lives as UK expands safe and legal routes.
For those in the United States who may be weighing DED or checking whether they remain covered, USCIS maintains its DED page as the primary reference point on coverage and employment authorization guidance. The agency’s information appears at DED Covered Country – Certain Hong Kong Residents.
The U.S. Department of State’s public position on Lai’s sentence and related concerns appears in its statement, Sentencing in Jimmy Lai Case, which includes Rubio’s call for humanitarian parole and his description of the case as an “unjust and tragic conclusion.”
Mahmood linked the UK’s latest move back to Britain’s wider stance on Hong Kong and to family futures. “This country will always honour its historic commitment to the people of Hong Kong. In the face of the continued deterioration of rights and freedoms, we are now expanding eligibility so more families can build new lives here,” she said.
