Immigration Law
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Hello,
I am a UK solicitor.
Usually, you may ask for your visa date to be deferred for a maximum period of 3 months from the date of your application so for example if you apply on 1st March, you may ask for a visa start date of 1st June.
However, you may travel to the UK at any time after the start date of your visa, you do not need to travel on 1st June if it starts on 1st June. If you delay your travel, you need to bear in mind that the 5 years clock for settlement purposes will only start ticking when you arrive in the UK on your visa.
UK government guidance states as follows:
"You can apply to settle in the UK (known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’) after you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years on a BNO visa. This means you can stay in the UK without any time limits.
If you’ve already spent time in the UK on a different visa this may count towards the 5 years. Time spent on a Student visa (previously called a Tier 4 (General) student visa) or a Youth Mobility Scheme visa (T5) will not count."
May I help further?
You may travel at any time your visa is valid e.g. if it is valid until 31st May 2026, you may travel at any time between 1st June 2021 and 31st May 2026.
For meeting the 5 years requirement in the UK, you may need to apply for an extension of your visa, there are no restrictions on applying for extensions.Once you have 5 years in the UK, you may then apply for settlement.
All the best
Yes.
Please accept proposal to continue.
Thank you.
You do not need to apply for vignette transfer and your visa will not be revoked, it will remain valid and you may travel anytime during its validity.
Your daughter's clock in the UK for settlement purposes will start when she is issued with a BNO visa, as a student visa does not count for settlement purposes under the 5 years route.
Yes, assuming she obtains her own independent BN(O) visa. If it is a dependant visa, then she would need to be under 18 normally and if you include her as your dependent, then she would only be able to apply for settlement as the same time as you.
No, in that case, her clock will be tied to yours.
However, if she qualifies, she may apply for her own BN(O) visa in her own right, in which case she may start her clock earlier than yours.
She would only qualify in her own right if she had a BN(O) Passport, so she cannot qualify for her own visa.
Yes, you may include her as your dependant as she was born after the handover date but arguably, she would only be able to apply for settlement in the UK at the same time as you. However, the rules keep changing all the time, so you should not worry about that now, it is something to consider in 2026.
All the best. I will now go offline.
Yes, she may do so, that is fine. She may live in the UK even if you are not here yet.
Yes, she will be treated the same as children under 18 as she will be holding a dependant visa.
Household member/child are all dependents, that is why.
Please see this guidance:
"For a grant of settlement on the Hong Kong BN(O) route, a BN(O) household child must be being granted at the same time as their BN(O) status holder parent, and/or their other parent who is already settled or a British citizen. A BN(O) adult dependent relative must also be applying for settlement at the same time as the BN(O) status holder..."
She will be an adult dependent relative.
Yes, that is correct.