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Hong Kong UK Welcome Programme

An immigration route opened on 31 January 2021, providing British National (Overseas) [BN(O)] status holders from Hong Kong and their eligible dependants with the opportunity to come to the UK to live, study and work, on a pathway to citizenship.

This route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is leading delivery of a funded national ‘Welcome Programme’ to support those on the BN(O) route and their families to help them to successfully settle in their new communities.

The Welcome Programme includes:

  • demand-led funding for local authorities in England to support BN(O) status holders and their families with English language and destitution support
  • an online welcome pack providing all those on the BN(O) route with information on how to access services and understand life in the UK
  • a network of 12 Welcome Hubs across the whole of the UK to prepare for the arrival of those on the BN(O) route, established using the existing infrastructure of the Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs)
  • voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) grant funding to support projects focused on a) employability and b) mental health and wellbeing
  • MHCLG are also continuing to fund On Your Side, the hate crime reporting and support service for BN(O)s and East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) communities in the UK.

Find out more about the Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) Welcome Programme on GOV.UK.

Welcome Hubs and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations

Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs) coordinate and support local delivery of national programmes in asylum and refugee schemes, as well as agreed regional and devolved migration priorities. SMPs work with stakeholders in the statutory, voluntary, private and community sectors to provide a strategic leadership, advisory and coordination function on migration for their regions and devolved governments, ensuring a coordinated approach to migration and the sharing of relevant information and good practice. The hosting arrangements for each SMP may differ depending on regional and national structures.

Find out more about the support offered in Kent and Medway.

For further information email hkbno@kent.gov.uk.