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This document tells His Majesty’s Passport Office staff how to process passport applications for customers who hold British national (overseas) citizenship

This guidance tells His Majesty’s Passport Office examiners how to deal with applications from customers who were British dependent territories citizens connected to Hong Kong who became British nationals (overseas) or stateless on 1 July 1997.

Only examiners with the correct level of training must deal with British national (overseas) cases.

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email Guidance & Quality, Operating Standards .

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email Guidance & Quality, Operating Standards .

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

We have updated the guidance to explain you must also check if a customer has valid leave (permission) to be in the UK when deciding what UK immigration observation to use (in the First BN(O) passport: customer is in the UK section)

This section tells HM Passport Office examination staff about the nationality status British national (overseas).

British nationals (overseas) status was created by Article 4(1) of the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986. The order came into effect on 1 July 1987 before Hong Kong was no longer a dependant territory of the UK and returned to Chinese rule on 1 July 1997. British nationals (overseas) are Commonwealth citizens.

The act allowed British dependent territories citizens (BDTC) who got their status from a connection with Hong Kong to register as a British national (overseas) under section 4(2) of the Order and keep:

British national (overseas) (known as BN(O) status) was only available to Hong Kong BDTCs if they registered before 1 July 1997. Only children born in the first six months of 1997 could be registered after this date until 31st December 1997.

BN(O) status was only available by registration and cannot be passed down to future generations. This means no one born after 1 July 1997 can be a BN(O).

BDTCs who registered as British nationals (overseas) had their details added to a national register (known as the Hong Kong historic application database). They received a British passport which showed they held BN(O) status and were not issued with a registration certificate.

Children who were registered as BN(O)s with their parents may have had their details added to their parent’s first BN(O) passport. They may not have held a BN(O) passport in their own right or had their personal details added to the Hong Kong historic application database. We must assume a child was registered as a BN(O) if they were born before 1 July 1997 and were named on either parents BN(O) passport.

BDTCs from Hong Kong who did not register as BN(O)s lost their BDTC status and became foreign nationals. The British government considered former BDTCs who were not a foreign national to be stateless which entitled them to British overseas citizenship.

British national (overseas) citizens can hold a British passport and get consular help and protection from UK diplomatic posts. Unless the BN(O) is a dual British citizen, they are subject to immigration controls and do not have the automatic right to live or work in the UK.

Not all BN(O)s can only hold dual British nationality. If a BN(O) customer registered as a British citizen under:

This section tells HM Passport Office staff what happened to British dependant territory citizens (BDTC) who did not register as a British national (overseas) (BN(O)) before 1 July 1997.

People from Hong Kong who were British dependent territories citizens (BDTC) and did not register as a British national (overseas) lost their BDTC status when Hong Kong returned to The People’s Republic of China on 1 July 1997. These people would become:

A former Hong Kong BDTC who did not register as a BN(O) and who does not have Chinese, or another foreign nationality became stateless on 1 July 1997.

Article 6(1) of the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986 reduces statelessness by providing an alternative. Article 6(2) stated a person born after 1 July 1997, who would otherwise be stateless, will become a BOC if, at the time of their birth either:

Article 6(3) allows the customer to register as a BOC if their parent was 6(2).

When dealing with applications where the customer may be stateless, you, the examiner, must make sure the customer has no entitlement to any other nationality before you issue a British overseas citizen passport.

Customers who did not register as BN(O)s ceased to hold British nationality on 1 July 1997 and became Chinese nationals if they were ethnically Chinese.

You must tell the customer to contact the Chinese authorities (through the nearest Chinese consulate) to get a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport if the customer is ethnically Chinese.

You must check the customer’s passport application and ask them for extra information if there is evidence, they may be stateless.

You must check Main Index (MI), G: Search or Hong Kong historic database for any British passports issued to the customer, their parents and grandparents (if necessary). You must check the passport record for:

If there is no indication the customer has been registered as a BN(O) and you believe they may be stateless you must ask the customer to send in evidence:

These requirements also apply to any children born on or after 1 July 1997 to a parent who was a BDTC of Hong Kong.

You must refer the application to your operational team leader (OTL) to contact the customer if the customer is stateless and may be entitled British overseas citizenship or if the customer has not registered as a BN(O), is not stateless and has no claim to any British nationality.

People who were eligible and wished to register as British citizens were able to apply using the:

These acts gave British citizenship otherwise than by descent (OTBD) and by descent (BD). The United Kingdom Visa and Immigration service issue registration certificates to people who register as British citizens, to prove their British nationality.

You must check and record the holder’s full nationality status in case notes to make sure a customer claiming descent through a British citizen parent is not given a passport in error.

Specially selected people from Hong Kong were invited by the Governor of Hong Kong to register as British citizens under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990 between 1990 and 1997.

These people registered in their own right under section 1(1) of the act and held the status:

As they held OTBD status (other than by descent) they can pass on their British citizenship to any child born to them after they registered.

The act also allowed the spouse and existing children of the selected person to register as a British citizen under section 1(4) of the act. This section gave these people BD (by descent) status; which cannot be passed down to future generations. Their status is shown as:

Customers who registered as a British citizens under this act cannot be a British national (overseas) as well.

The British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 allowed people who were British only because of their connection to Hong Kong to register as British citizens.

This act allowed people to be registered with the status:

Their BD or OTBD status was dependant on whatever their previous British nationality status was. For example, a person born outside Hong Kong who held British dependent territories citizenship by descent through a parent born in Hong Kong would be registered under this act as a British citizen by descent.

This section tells HM Passport Office examination staff how to process a passport application for a British national (overseas) (BN(O)) passport.

All applications for a BN(O) passport will come from adult customers, no-one born after 1 July 1997 could register for BN(O) status. The customer must send in:

We accept colour copies of the customer’s HKID, HKPIC or valid HKSAR passport because Hong Kong residents over the age of 15 must always carry valid legal identification.

If you need a new digital referee, you can accept a 1-page countersignatory form a customer sends by email, if the application is to renew or replace their BN(O) passport.

DAP will:

The Digital Application Processing (DAP) system will create a British national (overseas) (BN(O)) task when both of the following apply:

When the DAP system creates the BN(O) task, you (the DAP examiner) must:

If you have everything you need (and do not need to transfer the application to AMS) and the customer is entitled to a BN(O) passport, you must:

When you are dealing with a BN(O) task on DAP, you must check the observations on the customer’s old passport. You must do this by checking the old passport record, or other previous passport records, on Main Index.

To check the observation on the customers old passport (or on their previous passports on Main Index), you must:

If DAP adds the incorrect observation code to the application you must use the observations guidance to:

This may happen, for example, if the examiner used the free text observation code instead of the UK immigration observation code when they issued the customer’s old passport.

You must deal with the application as a first time BN(O) application if the customer meets these criteria. You must follow this process if you are processing the application as a first time BN(O) application on DAP.

You must transfer the application to AMS if you need to take any action that you cannot complete on DAP, for example:

If you need more documents to deal with the application (for example, because the customer’s name does not match) or the customer sent an old style HKID or HKPIC, you must:

You may decide the application needs further investigation (for example, if you have doubts about the customer’s identity). You must:

To issue a customer’s BN(O) passport for applications on the Application Management System (AMS), you must:

You must refer the application to the Counter Fraud team (CFT) if you:

Most British national (overseas) customers were issued with a BN(O) passport when they registered as BN(O)s with the British authorities in Hong Kong. Most passport applications from customers will be to renew or replace an old passport.

You must make sure you select the correct service type (on the Application Management System) based on the documents and information provided and examine the application based on the service type (with the exception of lost or stolen BN(O) Old Blue (hardback style) passports).

You must deal with the customer’s application as a renewal if their BN(O) passport is not damaged and either of the following apply:

BN(O) Old Blue (hardback style) passports must be dealt with as a renewal (not a first time application) if the customer sends it in and you can find a record of it in the archives.

You must refer the application to an Enhanced Application Checking (EAC) examiner who must investigate and deal with the application as a first time application if both of the following apply:

You must deal with the application as a replacement if the customer’s old BN(O) passport is recorded on MI, G-Search or the Hong Kong historic database and is:

BN(O) passport records held on the Hong Kong historic application database and G-search have been uploaded to Main Index (MI) in batches by the Data Governance and Assurance team. You must arrange to have the customer’s passport record added to MI if it is missing and the guidance states you must add it.

You must deal with the application as a first time application if the customer meets these criteria. You must follow this process if you are processing the application as a first time BN(O) application on AMS.

You must deal with the application as a first time application if the customer appears to be applying for a BN(O) passport and:

If a customer tells us they registered as a BN(O) but there is no record in our archives, they may been registered and named on their parents’ passports. If they were registered with their parents, they may or may not have had their personal details added to the Hong Kong historic database.

In this situation you must:

Refer the application to an appropriately trained examiner if the customer has no claim to British nationality.

You must check the Hong Kong historic application database or Old Blue index cards records if the customer’s Old Blue BN(O) passport is missing. If you cannot find a record matching the customer’s details, you must deal with the application as if the customer were applying for their first passport.

If you find a record matching the customer’s details, you must:

Some customer’s may never have held a BN(O) passport in their own right and may only have been named on their parents’ old passport. Their details may or may not have been registered on the Hong Kong historic application database.

If the customer’s personal details and their HKID or HKPIC number were included on their parent’s passport, you must check their application details using the details shown on the parent’s old passport.

You must delete the customer’s details from their parent’s passport when you issue the customer’s first BN(O) passport. To cancel the details, you must:

Some customers may tell us they were included on their parent’s BN(O) passport, but it is now lost or stolen. This means we will not be able to confirm if they were included, in this situation you must consider whether it was likely they were included in their parents BN(O) passport.

Together with the extra checks needed to issue a BN(O) passport you must consider all the following points:

If there are no fraud concerns and it is likely the customer was included on their parents BN(O) passport, you must continue to deal with the application.

There are a small number of BN(O) passports that have the same passport number. You may see them when a customer’s old passport correctly shows on G-search but the passport number on MI, relates to a different customer.

When this happens, you must:

If the Data Quality team confirm it’s an affected case and you are satisfied it’s not the same customer, you must:

This section tells HM Passport Office staff dealing with British national (overseas) customers, how to check the customer’s nationality status and confirm it is correct on the Application Management System or Digital Application Processing.

Customers who registered as British national (overseas) citizens were not issued with a registration certificate; the BN(O) passport they were named in, is evidence they registered.

Most British national (overseas) customers will already hold or have held a BN(O) passport and a record of their passport will exist in our records. A record in any of our archives showing the customer registered as a BN(O) or holds a BN(O) passport is confirmation of the customer’s BN(O) nationality status.

You must check MI to see if the customer is entitled to a BN(O) passport. You only need to check the Hong Kong historic database if there is no record of the customer’s BN(O) passport on MI or G-search. If a record of the customer’s passport does not exist in these archives you must try to locate the passport in our Old Blue index card records.

You must not issue a BN(O) passport to a customer if they cannot provide a genuine passport or there is no trace of their personal details in any of our records. You can only issue a new passport if we can confirm the customer is entitled to a BN(O) passport. If you cannot confirm the customer is entitled to BN(O) status you must refer the application to an appropriately trained person who will deal with the application.

When we receive an application, AMS (Application Management System) will check if the customer has a previous passport on Main Index (MI). If there:

If you do not make any changes to the application, the nationality status will not change.

If you make any changes to the previous passport details section or the place of birth on the application, AMS will set the nationality status:

If you need to change the customer’s nationality status on the ‘Prepare passport’ tab (for example, if a BN(O) customer has naturalised as a British citizen), you must:

If you are processing a BN(O) task, DAP will automatically select British national (overseas) as the nationality status (based on the nationality status on the customer’s old passport). You do not need to check or change this.

If you are processing a first time BN(O) application on DAP, you must record the customer’s nationality status on DAP, using the Nationality task. You must case note your checks and decision.

This section tells HM Passport Office staff how to complete pre-issue and post-issue checks on AMS (Application Management System), on British nationality status, observations and names and addresses in the alternative address tab (if we are delivering the passport and supporting documents to an address in Hong Kong).

You, the examiner or OTL (Operational Team Leader), must complete pre-issue and post-issue checks if you are processing on AMS (Application Management System).

You do not need to complete pre-issue and post-issue checks if you are processing on DAP (Digital Application Processing).

To complete a pre-issue check for each application in your box of work, you (the examiner) must:

When you, the OTL, get a box of applications that need pre-issue quality checks, you must:

When you, the examiner, get the box of work back from your OTL, you must:

When you, the OTL, get a box of applications that need post-issue checks, you must immediately check the prepare passport screen on AMS, to make sure, the:

If all of the details are correct, you must:

If the nationality status or observations are incorrect, you must:

If the nationality status and observations are correct but the name and address is incorrect, you must:

The International Delivery team will work with our delivery partner to correct the name and address.

Your local systems team may be able to stop the passport from being printed (also known as ‘return to examiner’). They can only do this if we ask them within 1 hour of the application being passed for issue.

To ask for the application to be ‘returned to examiner’, you must immediately:

The SEO must:

The systems team will contact our printing partners to tell them not to print the passport. Our printing partners will phone you to confirm when the process is complete (it may take up to 4 hours).

When the application is returned, you (the examiner) must:

If your local systems team cannot stop the passport from being printed, you must recall the passport from delivery.

You must fill in a passport return request form and email it to team 16 in Durham, if you have issued a passport with a British citizen status that should be issued with a British national (overseas) status. When you do, you must:

Team 16 in Durham will:

If post issue checks confirm that a passport has been issued with an incorrect observation or an incorrect status other than British citizen, for example British overseas territories citizen you, the OTL, must fill in a passport return request form and email it to HM Passport Office International Delivery team. You must:

This section tells HM Passport Office staff which immigration observations they must add to British nationals (overseas) passports.

We must add immigration observations to all British national (overseas) passports. These include:

When we issue a customer with a British national (overseas) (BN(O)) passport, we must add the correct UK immigration observation. This will be one of the following:

THE HOLDER IS SUBJECT TO CONTROL UNDER THE IMMIGRATION ACT 1971

THE HOLDER IS ENTITLED TO RE-ADMISSION TO THE UNITED KINGDOM

If we do not use the correct UK immigration observation, especially for customers in the UK, it may:

The UK immigration observation we use in a BN(O) passport, depends on:

If a UK customer applies for their first British national (overseas) (BN(O)) passport, you must check:

If the supporting documents or the UKVI system shows the customer is settled or has valid leave, you must refer to first BN(O) passport: customer is settled or has valid leave.

If the customer’s documents and the UKVI systems do not show if they are settled or has valid leave, you must:

When you get the customer’s response, you must refer to:

When a customer in the UK applies for their first British national (overseas) (BN(O)) passport, we will ask UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to confirm if they are settled or have valid leave, when both of the following apply:

To ask UKVI if a customer is settled or has valid leave, you must:

HMPO request – customer’s settlement status

When you get a response from UKVI, you must refer to:

If the British national (overseas) (BN(O)) customer provides evidence to show they are settled or has valid leave, you must first check to see if the evidence is genuine. You must:

Providing you are satisfied there is evidence to show the customer is settled or has valid leave (either from the customer’s supporting documents, information from UKVI systems or because UKVI confirmed they are settled or have valid leave), you must:

If UKVI confirm the British national (overseas) (BN(O)) customer is not settled and does not have valid leave, you must:

If an overseas customer applies for their first British national (overseas) (BN(O)) passport, you must:

We do not send letters to a BN(O) overseas customer about UK immigration observations.

If a UK or overseas customer applies to renew, replace or change the details on their British national (overseas) (BN(O)) passport, you must:

If the customer’s old British national (overseas) (BN(O)) passport does not have the RUK or STC immigration observation or only has the STC immigration observation, you must check what’s on their previous passports, using:

If the customer’s old or any previous British national (overseas) (BN(O)) passports has the RUK immigration observation, you must:

If the customer’s old or previous passports do not show the RUK or STC immigration observation or only shows the STC immigration observation, you must follow the guidance:

Only the Hong Kong authorities can grant right of abode (ROA) or the Right to Land (RTL) in Hong Kong. We:

Any person who has the Right of Abode (ROA) in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will have the right to:

Before you add a Hong Kong ROA observation to a British passport you must confirm the customer still holds ROA in Hong Kong. The customer must send in their Hong Kong identity card or valid HKSAR passport (or a colour copy) so we can check the details.

If the customer’s HKID or HKPIC confirms they have ROA in Hong Kong, you must add the OBTT observations to their new BN(O) passport.

The Hong Kong Immigration departments website explains who is entitled to hold ROA in Hong Kong.

We will not add Hong Kong, Right of Abode (ROA) immigration observations to a British passport if the customer cannot provide acceptable evidence, they have ROA in Hong Kong. For example, if they have:

If they cannot send us evidence, they have ROA in Hong Kong, you must not add any Hong Kong immigration observation. You must:

A person may have acquired the Right to Land (RTL) in the HKSAR, if they do not hold ROA in the HKSAR. The Right to Land:

If the customer cannot show us they have ROA in the HKSAR you must tell them to contact the Hong Kong Immigration department to get the necessary immigration permissions. We will issue their passport without a Hong Kong immigration observation.

When you are ready to issue the British passport you must not add the Right to Land in Hong Kong observation (code OBTG) or the Right to Land vignette under and circumstance. This is because from 31 January 2021 we have been unable to check these with he Hong Kong Immigration Department.

To tell the customer we no longer add the RTL immigration observation, you must:

Between 30 March 2019 (when we started issuing non-EU passports) and 31 December 2020 (when the UK’s transitional period for leaving the EU ended), we added the following observation to BN(O) passports:

THE HOLDER IS NOT ENTITLED TO BENEFIT FROM EU PROVISIONS RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT OR ESTABLISHMENT

The UK’s transition period after leaving the European Union (EU) ended on 31 December 2020. This means you must not add this observation to any BN(O) passport you issue on, or after 1 January 2021.

This section tells HM Passport Office staff about Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports and how they can be used to support passport applications for British national (overseas) passports.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passports are issued by the Hong Kong Immigration department. Customers are only eligible to apply for a HKSAR passport if they fulfil 3 criteria; they must:

If the customer is a permanent resident of Hong Kong but does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card, they must apply for an identity card before applying for a HKSAR Passport.

You, the examiner, can accept a valid HKSAR passport in place of a Hong Kong permanent identity card (HKPIC) if the customer has not sent in their HKPIC with their application for a BN(O) passport. The HKSAR records the customer’s PIC number on the personal details page.

You can be certain the holder of a valid HKSAR passport has permanent residence in Hong Kong as this is one of the criteria the customer must fulfil to be eligible for the passport.

This section tells HM Passport Office examination staff about the different identity cards held by customers born in Hong Kong, living in Hong Kong or who have a connection to Hong Kong.

GOV.UK tells the customer to send in their Hong Kong Identity Card (HKID) or Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card (HKPIC) (or a colour copy), with their passport application when they apply.

There are 2 types of identity cards used in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region:

Since 2003, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) have issued their Smart Identity Cards containing a microchip, older cards were issued without a microchip. HKSAR requires holders of older style cards to replace them with a Smart Identity Card.

We will accept the customer’s valid Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport if they send this instead of a Smart Identity Card.

HM Passport Office cannot accept an older style card without a microchip as evidence of the holders Hong Kong immigration status. You must refer to when the customer cannot provide Hong Kong, ROA evidence if the customer sends you an older style card without a microchip.

If the customer lives in Hong Kong and sends in an ‘old style’ Hong Kong identity card or permanent identity card without a microchip, you must tell them to get a replacement card and send it to us. They can get a replacement from any ‘Registration of Persons Office’ of the Hong Kong Immigration Department. You must withdraw the customer’s application if the customer does not provide a replacement within the agreed timescales.

You must refer to when the customer cannot provide Hong Kong, ROA evidence if all of the following apply:

Hong Kong identity cards and permanent identity cards have a code sequence which records information about the holder. For example, it records if the holder was born in Hong Kong or Macao, if the holder has had a change of name and it records the holder’s immigration status in Hong Kong.

The code letter ‘A’ on HKID or HKPIC is used to show the holder has Right of Abode in Hong Kong. If the identity card does not state the holder has Right of Abode or it does not contain the ‘A’ code you must refer to When the customer cannot provide Hong Kong, ROA evidence.

The Hong Kong Knowledge base gives examples of an old identity card and a Smart Identity Card and explains the different codes used on them.

HKID cards are issued to non-permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and children under the age of 11 years.

A Hong Kong identity card (HKID) has the title ‘HONG KONG IDENTITY CARD’ printed on the front. You must check the identity code to see if the holder has the Right of Abode (ROA) or not. The HKID card is issued to:

A Hong Kong permanent identity card (HKPIC) has the title ‘HONG KONG PERMANENT IDENTITY CARD’ printed on the front. The statement ‘The holder of this card has the Right of Abode in Hong Kong’ is printed on the back.

If the customer sends in a permanent identity card with a microchip you can accept they have ROA in Hong Kong and add the correct observation to the customer’s passport application.

This section tells HM Passport Office staff about additional services which are available to British nationals who hold British national (overseas) and another British nationality.

Customers who hold dual British nationality can hold valid passports showing each national status. You must not cancel the customer’s British National (overseas) (BN(O)) passport if they hold passports in multiple British nationalities.

You must case note the current application to confirm they hold dual British nationality. You must also add a passport note to every valid British passport the customer may hold if they hold additional passports, this includes when the customer holds multiple dual British nationality.

Some customers hold dual British nationality; they may hold a passport in another British nationality and a BN(O) passport at the same time.

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