CONFIDENTIAL
also desirable that people who are to become British Overseas
Citizens in this way should lose their citizenship on
acquiring that of another country.
MEANS OF ACQUISITION OF BRITISH OVERSEAS
CITIZENSHIP AFTER THE ACT IS PASSED
Acquisition by Birth
16. British Overseas Citizenship should be acquired by
birth in a dependency. As in the case of British Citizenship
(see paper NLR(78)2) it would complicate matters to attach
any stipulation about the citizenship of a child's parents,
and might in some cases raise difficulties, eg with the
Chinese in Hong Kong. The question of birth in a ship
registered in a dependency has to be considered further.
Adoption
17.
An adoption ought to confer the equivalent of citizenship
by birth if it is carried out by order of a court in the
dependency and one at least of the parents is a British
Overseas Citizen by connection with that dependency.
Descent
18. It is here that a distinction should be made between
British Overseas Citizens who are born in an existing
dependency and those who are not. Those men who are should
be able to transmit their citizenship to legitimate children
born outside the dependency; but because of immigration
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