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Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London S.W.1
From the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
18 November, 1971
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In his letter of 9 August Jo Godber undertook to send you a copy of the new immigration legislation in Hong Kong. The Bill was duly enacted on 13 October and I enclose a copy of the resulting Immigration Ordinance. You may find the following comments helpful by way of explanation of certain aspects of the legislation.
In 1969 the Hong Kong Government enacted legislation which extended to Commonwealth citizens the controls which it operated, through a system of visas and re-entry permits, on the entry of aliens into the Colony. Controls of this nature over the entry of Commonwealth citizens had already been imposed by, most countries, both inside and outside the Commonwealth, and the Hong Kong Government considered at the time that it was necessary in the Colony's own interests that they should take similar action.
The new Ordinance does not impose any additional restrictions on the freedom of entry into Hong Kong of citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies. Visas are not required in the case of citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who hold United Kingdom passports issued in the United
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1.