Home Office written question – answered at on 9 February 2026.
Ian Sollom
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Universities and Skills)
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether pensions income that is not eligible for taxation in the UK due to the UK and Hong Kong Tax Treaty will count towards the proposed £12,570 personal income threshold for British National (Overseas) visa holders wanting to acquire permanent residence.
Ian Sollom
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Universities and Skills)
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether pensions income that is not eligible for taxation in the UK due to the UK and Hong Kong Tax Treaty will count towards the proposed £12,570 personal income threshold for British National (Overseas) visa holders wanting to acquire permanent residence.
Mike Tapp
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
The earned settlement model, proposed in ’A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The Government remains steadfast in its support for members of the Hong Kong community in the UK. BN(O) visa holders will attract a five-year reduction in the qualifying period for settlement, meaning they will continue to be able to settle in the UK after five years’ residence, subject to meeting the mandatory requirements.
The consultation seeks views from Hong Kongers on the proposals, including whether there should be exemptions from the mandatory economic contribution.
Details of mandatory requirements, including those relating to personal income threshold, will be finalised following the close of that consultation. In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
