TThe British National (Overseas) visa, also known as the BNO Visa, allows British Nationals who live in Hong Kong to come to the UK to study, work, or live. This is a very flexible UK visa option that comes with a wide range of benefits. However, it is open only to British Nationals who live in Hong Kong.Recent changes to the BNO visa now allow the children of eligible BNO applicants to seek the BNO visa as well. However, you may do so only if you are the child of a BNO and were born on or after July 1st, 1997.
Typically, the visa option is available to overseas British Nationals who live in Hong Kong. However, you can also apply for the visa from within the UK if your permanent area of residence is Hong Kong, the Channel Islands, the UK, or the Isle of Man.
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You are eligible for a BNO visa if you meet the following requirements
– You are 18 or older
– You are a British National (overseas)
– You are the children of a British National (overseas) and were born on or after July 1st, 1997
– Your country of permanent residence is Hong Kong if you are applying from outside the UK
– Your country of permanent residence is the UK, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands if you are applying from inside the UK
– You must have no serious criminal convictions on your record
– You must not have violated any other Immigration Rules
If you meet all these requirements, you can go ahead and apply for a BNO visa.
However, it is highly recommended that you consult an experienced immigration attorney as you do so.
One of the key benefits of a BNO visa is that it allows your family members to apply as dependents and come to the UK. In contrast to many other visa routes, BNO has a more expanded list of family members who qualify as dependents.
Your family members can apply for a dependent visa only once your BNO visa is approved and valid. The family members who may apply include:
– Your spouse or partner. The spouse or partner must be 18 years or older.
– Your children or grandchildren who are not yet 18.
– Your parents, grandparents, or siblings who are 18 or older, depend on you for their case, and live with you at the time of your visa application.
For children aged 18 or above, it is possible to file separately for a BNO visa as they are eligible for it.
For family members other than the spouse, partner, and children, the visa application must be filed within 2 days of the BNO visa application.
The BNO visa confers several benefits to the visa holder. Unlike many other UK visa routes, this one is quite flexible.
Key benefits include:
– Permission to work in any type of job in the UK. You don’t need a sponsor, or an employer endorsement to do so.
– Permission to study at a UK school, college, or university without any restrictions. BNO visa dependents can enroll at the state schools free of cost.
– Permission to bring your dependents to the UK. As noted above, this includes not just your spouse or children, but also parents, grandparents, and siblings.
– Access to NHS healthcare benefits once your visa is approved. These benefits are available for you and your visa dependents.
– A convenient route to UK citizenship as you can stay in the UK on a BNO visa for 5 years, and then apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. After 12 months of ILR, you can apply for full citizenship.
For these benefits, and for the option of getting British citizenship in as little as 6 years on a BNO visa, this visa route is very attractive for eligible applicants. If you are not sure whether or not you qualify for this visa category, you can consult our immigration law firm. Our immigration attorneys will provide you with detailed help and guidance.
Depending on where you are applying from and several other factors, you may be asked to provide specific documents alongside your visa application.
In general, the Home Office will ask for the following documents:
– A BNO passport. The passport can be valid or expired, as long as it confirms that you held this passport as a British National (overseas) citizen.
– Legal documents confirming your relationship with any visa dependents seeking to apply with you. Such documents may include birth certificates, adoption certificates, marriage certificates, and so on. An experienced immigration attorney can help you understand exactly which type of evidence you need for your dependents.
– Evidence of financial support. This is required to ensure that you can support yourself and any other dependents traveling with you to the UK. Such evidence may include bank statements, letters from friends or family confirming their commitment to financially support you, evidence of income, and so on. You are not required to provide this evidence if you have been in the UK already for at least 1 year.
– Proof of permanent residence. You must furnish this proof for yourself as well as any dependents traveling with you.
– Previous travel history. This includes a list of your previous passports as well as a detail of any visas you have received in the past, the travels you have made, and the details of such travels.
You must also provide the passport of your BNO parent if you are applying as the child of a person with BNO status. In this case, you will also be required to provide proof of your relationship, such as a birth certificate or an adoption certificate.
Other documents may be required for your visa application. A reliable immigration law firm can provide you with detailed guidance and help on what documents are needed for your visa application, and how best to present these as a part of your application.
The visa application process for the BNO visa varies depending on whether you are applying from inside the UK or outside the UK.
Here’s a look at both variations.
If you are outside the UK
When applying for a visa from inside the UK, the visa application process typically looks like this:
The authorities usually take up to 12 weeks to process your visa application.
If you are inside the UK
If you are applying from inside the UK, you will be required to provide proof of your permanent residence in the UK alongside your application. The same will be required for any dependents living with you in the UK.
Such proof can include a current UK visa, your residence permit, an employer endorsement confirming that you are legally working in the UK, your household or utility bills for a UK address, a recent record of your rental payments, a letter issued by your local council, your payslips, or a recent HMRC P60.
You have the option of choosing between a 2.5-year BNO visa and a 5-year BNO visa. The visa fees for these differ. For a 2.5-year visa, you are required to pay a visa fee of £180. The visa fee for a 5-year visa is £250.
In addition to this, you are also required to pay a healthcare surcharge for the National Health Service (NHS). This is charged by year, and you are required to pay £1035 per year for adults. If any children are applying with you as dependents, you must pay a £776 per year healthcare surcharge. This payment makes you and your BNO dependents eligible for the NHS benefits.
The visa application process might involve other fees as well, such as the biometric verification fee which is £19.20.
BNO Visa Financial Requirements
As noted above, a part of the BNO visa requirements is that you must provide proof of sufficient funds to support yourself and any dependents traveling with you to the UK for at least 6 months.
Such proof may include bank statements, letters from friends and family confirming that they will support you financially, or details of a job offer in the UK that will financially help you.
You must also show that you have the following amount of funds at your disposal:
– £2,000 for adult applicants and dependents
– £3,100 if you are applying as a BNO couple with a single-child dependent
– £4,600 if you are applying as a BNO couple with three dependent children
– £9,200 if you are applying as a BNO couple with two adult dependents (parents) and two adult children
A qualified immigration attorney can help you determine the exact amounts you need to show to meet your financial requirements for the BNO visa.
Your BNO visa may be rejected for a variety of reasons. If it is, you can file an appeal against the rejection within 14 or 28 days, depending on whether you are applying from inside the UK or from outside the UK.
The appeal is a request to have an administrative review of the original decision. Following the review, the immigration authorities may reverse the decision if they realize that an error has been made in the earlier visa verdict.
However, if the administrative review upholds visa rejection, you still have other options. You can next file for a Pre-Action Protocol. If the visa rejection is upheld through this process, your final recourse is to seek a Judicial Review of the decision.
It is critically important to consult a reputable immigration attorney if you have faced rejection on your BNO visa. A qualified immigration law firm can best advise you on whether an appeal or a fresh visa application with corrected errors, can improve your odds of success.
The maximum duration for the BNO visa is 5 years. You can apply for a 2.5-year visa and then seek an extension for another 2.5 years. Alternatively, you can apply for a 5-year visa the first time around.
If you applied for a 2.5-year visa the first time around, you must formally apply for an extension to have it extended for another 2.5 years.
The extension process looks like this:
– Submit an online visa extension application form
– Pay visa fees
– Submit the required documents
– Re-submit your biometrics by scheduling an appointment with a UKVCAS center
The procedure for your dependents can vary depending on their relationship with you, and whether you are the sole person responsible for a dependent or a co-dependent with your partner. For this reason, it is best to consult a reputable immigration law firm when seeking an extension to your BNO visa.
One of the key benefits of the BNO visa is that once you have completed 5 years in the UK on a BNO visa, you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).
However, you must meet one specific requirement to be eligible for ILR upon the completion of your BNO visa. The requirement is that you must not have spent any more than 180 days outside the UK throughout any of the five years of your BNO visa.
If you meet this requirement, you can apply for an ILR upon the completion of your BNO visa’s maximum duration. Once you have ILR, you can stay in the UK as long as you want without the need to have your visa renewed.
As with the BNO visa, you can continue to work, study, or live in the UK without restrictions with an ILR. In addition, you are also able to access some citizenship benefits.
Once you have been in the UK for at least 12 months on ILR, you are eligible to apply for full British citizenship. This makes the BNO visa one of the most viable routes to full British citizenship for British Nationals (Overseas) from Hong Kong.
The BNO visa application process is fairly complex and takes a considerable amount of time. Your odds of success are better if you are fully informed about the visa requirements, know exactly how to meet these requirements and avoid any small or large errors during the visa process.
With the help and advice of our immigration law firm, you can make sure that your visa application process is smooth and without any errors.
Call us today at 0207-100-0505 to discuss your case with our lawyers and schedule a free consultation.
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