The UK expanded the criteria its visa scheme Thursday to Hong Kong residents born after 1997, under the British National (Overseas) Immigration Route (BN(O)).

In response to the new restrictive Chinese security measures introduced in Hong Kong in 2021, the Immigration Route allowed nearly 3 million people from Hong Kong to apply for a five-year visa, providing a route to UK citizenship. Originally introduced into law for those born before 1987 with BN(O) status and their dependents, following a moral commitment by the government to the people of Hong Kong.

The expansion of the scheme will encapsulate individuals who were born on or after 1 July 1997, or who have one BN(O) parent, allowing them to apply for an individual route to a visa independently. Previously adults under the age of 24 were unable to gain independent citizenship. The aim of the expansion is hoped to address unfair outcomes, where one sibling in a family was not eligible for citizenship, the government has confirmed.

China criticized the scheme in December, after 88,000 Hong Kongers applied for British visas, stating that the UK would make them “second-class citizens.” However, the scheme was enacted and now expanded in response to China breaking the agreement where Hong Kong was handed back to Beijing in 1997. Protests by people in the past year have made them vulnerable to the new Hong Kong security laws, the parliamentary committee warned, saying that the original scheme abandoned younger citizens.