British National (Overseas) passport

British National (Overseas) passport
Front cover of the current British National (Overseas) passport (with chip ), issued since March 2020
Type	Passport
Issued by	United Kingdom
First issued	1 July 1987 (first version) 1 June 1990 (machine-readable passport) 2005 (first biometric version) 2020 (biometric version with polycarbonate data page)
Purpose	British nationality identification and international travel document
Eligibility	British National (Overseas) status
Rights	Status holders, or their first generation adult descendants born after 30 June 1997, can live, study and work in the UK for unlimited period with a valid BN(O) visa.

The British National (Overseas) passport, commonly referred to as the BN(O) passport, is a British passport for people with British National (Overseas) status. BN(O) status was created in 1987 after the enactment of Hong Kong Act 1985,^[1] whose holders are permanent residents of Hong Kong who were British Overseas Territories citizens (formerly British Dependent Territories citizens) until 30 June 1997 and had registered as BN(O)s.

BN(O) status holders do not have the automatic right of abode in the United Kingdom unless they are also British citizens. Since 31 January 2021, BN(O) holders have been able to apply for limited leave to remain to live, work and study in the UK. They become eligible for settled status (indefinite leave to remain) after 5 years of qualifying residence. BN(O) holders with settled status can register as British citizens after 12 months.^[2]

The settlement scheme was launched after the imposition of the controversial 2020 national security law on Hong Kong by the Chinese Central government. The UK considers the enactment of the National Security Law a clear violation of the one country, two systems principle guaranteed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, an international binding treaty signed in 1984.^[3]