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Date:
Time:
Reporter:
PMO/8
is free entry to Britain for people from Hong Kong, the existence
of that endorsement makes as it were the new BNO passport look
rather more special than the old BDTC passport, but you are right,
there is a selling job to do. If you suddenly have a new passport, if you have a new nationality status, then obviously it has got to be explained carefully to all the countries concerned and the Foreign Office is not only going to do that but it is going to embark on a very intensive campaign so that there are
misunderstandings at all about the significance of the new passport, but is going to embark on the very important task of trying to re-negotiate visa abolition agreements with the countries which, of course, allow visa free entry to the holders of BDTC passports.
MS EMILY LAU: (Far East Economic Review)
Minister, is
it not ture that at present BDTC passport holders they may not need a visa to go but they are encouraged to get a certificate of entry to get into the UK and we have been told that the same may apply with the BNO passport so how can you say that the situation is very good right now? How can you assure the Hong Kong people that the situation will improve in 1987 when the BNO passport is
issued
?
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MINISTER:
is
The first point, of course, you are accepting that I am right in law, the holder of a BDTC passport doesn't require an entry clearance in order to get into Britain as a visitor, but of course it is the case that particularly in the last year or so we have had to cope with very, very difficult conditions in Heathrow in particular. There has been a growth in
29 traffic far greater than we ever expected and there has been a
growth in very difficult traffic from certain parts of the world. Now, as a result of that, we have recently imposed a visa requirement on the three Indian sub-continent countries and Nigeria and Ghana. I think that the very fact that we have done that
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can use to obtain entry without entry clearance should make things easier, a deal easier, for people travelling from Hong Kong. What
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