The economic case for maintaining the five-year period for indefinite leave to remain for British National Overseas (BNO) visa holders

Top Line: Maintaining the existing policy of allowing BNOs to qualify for indefinite leave to remain after five years could lead to a £4 billion injection into the UK economy by the end of the Parliament as qualifying BNOs withdraw their Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) savings from Hong Kong.1) – the equivalent of a year’s worth of revenue the Treasury receives from Air Passenger Duty (£4.7bn in 2025-26), the Apprenticeship Levy (£4.2bn 2025-26), or Stamp Taxes on Shares (£4.4bn in 2025-26).2 Extending the requirement to ten years would add further delays to BNOs already wrongly deprived of access to their MPF savings.