CONFIDENTIAL
布政司署
香港下亞畢道
* Our Ref : (61) in SCR 17/2091/82
來函檔號 YOUR REF :
Mr. A.C. Galsworthy, CMG,
Hong Kong Department,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
London,
SW1A 2AH,
United Kingdom.
#kn040/28
| RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
19 AUG 1985
DESK OFFICER
PA
Dear Mr Galsworthy, I
124
GOVERNMent secRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
26 July 1985
REGISTRY
Auton Taken
Visa requirement for
HK BDTCS visiting France
HONG KONG
84
hA 09/28
Rimte &
Men Jeeten
MUD
tel to Paris, I
suggest, cleared with
MVD (teopied to HE).
Speaking
in London
probably won't the root of
get
Fo
Grateful do problem
haef
Earlier this year, prompted by a case in
which an officer of the Immigration Department was advised by the French Embassy in London that HK BDTCS visiting France were required to obtain visas, Steven Kuo of the Immigration Department wrote to R.J. Miller of the MVD requesting the MVD to make enquiries with the French Embassy, London, regarding their visa requirements. Copies of the latest correspondence between Messrs. Kuo and Miller on this subject are attached at Annexes A and B.
Subsequently in June the Commissioner London Office confirmed that the French Embassy in London were requiring HK BDTCs to obtain visas for visits to France of any length. A copy of the
Commissioner/London's memo of 25 June 1985 is attached at Annex C.
Just as I was about to write to you I received a copy of a letter from the Secretary General, Umelco Office, concerning a complaint from the Hon. Francis Tien about apparent French visa requirement for HK BDTCS. Copies of the letter from the Umelco Office and a note on the Hon. Francis Tien's complaint are at Annex D and E.
In the meanwhile the French
Consulate-General here continue to advise HK BDTCs that they do not require visas for visits to France not exceeding three months. But the behaviour of the French Embassy in London and French immigration staff in Paris is making the situation unnecessarily confusing, and most unsatisfactory in the event that BDTCs who have not obtained visas for visits to France on the advice of the French Consulate here are subsequently told a different story in London or even refused landing in France.
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