The biggest shake-up of Britain’s immigration system in nearly half a century will not affect Hongkongers on a bespoke pathway to citizenship, the UK government has said.

The British government on Thursday unveiled a major shift in its profile for legal migrants, prioritising those contributing to its economy and playing by the rules, days after announcing the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in decades.

The government earlier announced it would double the permanent settlement qualifying period for migrants to 10 years, with reduced waits for those who made “a strong contribution to British life”.

British authorities said Hongkongers under the British National (Overseas) scheme were among those who would retain their existing five-year pathway to settlement.

The changes will apply to nearly 2 million migrants who arrived in the United Kingdom since 2021, subject to consultation on transitional arrangements for borderline cases.

The measures will not apply to those with existing settled status who have made their lives here.