Immigrationboards.com

Hello,

I am a BNO passport holder who lived in the U.K. for 6 years under a Tier 4 student visa. I don't have any criminal records. Am I eligible for registration for British citizenship ? (Under the British Nationality law & Hong Kong Act 1997)

Thank you

You are eligible under the British Nationality act 1981: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/section/4
Acquisition by registration: British overseas territories citizens etc.
BUT you must be settled in the UK with ILR or PR

(1)This section applies to any person who is a British overseas territories citizen, a British National (Overseas), a British Overseas citizen, a British subject under this Act or a British protected person.

(2)A person to whom this section applies shall be entitled, on an application for his registration as a British citizen, to be registered as such a citizen if the following requirements are satisfied in the case of that person, namely—

(a)subject to subsection (3), that he was in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the period of five years ending with the date of the application and that the number of days on which he was absent from the United Kingdom in that period does not exceed 450; and

(b)that the number of days on which he was absent from the United Kingdom in the period of twelve months so ending does not exceed 90; and

(c)that he was not at any time in the period of twelve months so ending subject under the immigration laws to any restriction on the period for which he might remain in the United Kingdom; and

(d)that he was not at any time in the period of five years so ending in the United Kingdom in breach of the immigration laws.

The complicating factor is that Chinese law automatically considers people of Chinese descent living in Hong Kong as Chinese citizens. Hence, BNOs of Chinese descent can not register under any section of British law that requires you to hold no other nationality.

So, it comes down to your ethnicity. If you are of Chinese descent, the route you were exploring is not for you. On the other hand, there has been some success reported on these forums of BNOs of non-Chinese ethnicity successfully registering under Section 4B.

BRITISH NATIONALITY (HONG KONG) ACT 1997 - EVIDENCE TO BE SUPPLIED wrote: 4.8 Applicants of Chinese origin

4.8.1 If applicants produce Hong Kong Permanent Identity Cards which have the symbol ***, it is almost certain that they are of Chinese ancestry and are Chinese citizens (despite the official disclaimer in Annex E). They should therefore be asked, regardless of where they are applying, to contact the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Immigration Department for confirmation that they were not Chinese citizens.

4.8.2 However, it should be noted that the issuing authority can remove these asterisks at the holder’s request and, therefore, their absence is not conclusive proof that the holder was not a Chinese citizen. Where it appears from the application form or other information that applicants are wholly or partly of Chinese ancestry, they should normally be required to obtain confirmation from the Hong Kong Immigration Department that they were not Chinese citizens at "the relevant date".

Page 5 of [url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491057/EM_Guide__01-16_.pdf]GUIDE EM: A guide to registration as a British citizen under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997[/url] wrote: (iv) If you become a British national through your Hong Kong connections but you are ethnically Chinese, under Chinese nationality rules, you may have been regarded as a Chinese national. If so, you would not be entitled to registration under the 1997 Act. If you are in this category, we advise you to contact the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Immigration Department for clarification before making an application.

Also see Chapter 14 of the Nationality Instructions: registration and naturalisation under legislation other than the British Nationality Act 1981.

The above considerations would also preclude a BNO of Chinese ethnicity from applying under Section 4B, which also requires the applicant not to hold any other nationality.

You can of course apply under Section 4, as highlighted by MrSlyFox, but that requires you to have held ILR for a year. As you have been on Tier 4 visas this far, it is unlikely that you will acquire ILR any time soon (to the best of my knowledge, Tier 4 visas are not a pathway to ILR except under 10 years Long Residency).

Gentleman,
Thank you for your info. I am also going to apply the BC from BNO. I would like to clarify if I go to the HKSAR Immigration Department and do the following:

Application for Renunciation of Chinese Nationality

Can I apply the BC with higher chance? Thanks in advance.

hawking wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 03, 2018 7:03 am

Gentleman,
Thank you for your info. I am also going to apply the BC from BNO. I would like to clarify if I go to the HKSAR Immigration Department and do the following:

Application for Renunciation of Chinese Nationality

Can I apply the BC with higher chance? Thanks in advance.

Please continue your questions in your own topic you have rather than tagging onto one that is almost 2 years old.

See piont 12 as well in the link I posted in your topic.