The UK government has rowed back from setting tougher English language requirements on Hongkongers seeking to settle in the country through the British National (Overseas) pathway, saying it will be subject to consultation.

Minister for Migration and Citizenship Mike Tapp also said the government would consider extending the pathway to Hongkongers born after the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, who may not hold BN (O) passports.

During a parliament debate on Tuesday about the Labour administration’s proposed immigration overhaul, Tapp confirmed that BN (O) visa holders’ settlement in the UK was subject to “mandatory requirements”, but he said the government would still consult the public on both the earning threshold and the tightened language requirement.

The proposal, released last Thursday and described by the UK government as “biggest overhaul of the legal migration model in 50 years”, said some mandatory requirements for all immigrants, including the required English language level, would not be subject to consultation.

“The new mandatory requirements for settlement are basic requirements that we think are reasonable in general for people to meet if they settle here,” he said. “But we are interested in views on whether certain groups should be exempt from these, and I stress now no decisions have been made on this.”

Under the proposed reform of the immigration system unveiled last week, the five-year route to settlement for the BN (O) pathway remained unchanged.