CONFIDENTIAL
23. I would like to turn now to a matter which, while it does not come directly within the terms of the draft Order is nevertheless closely linked with it.
That is the detailed arrangements which we propose to follow in issuing passports to British Nationals (Overseas) once the Order comes into effect.
24. We hope to issue these passports from 1 July 1987. This will enable Hong Kong BDTCS to have a choice between a BDTC passport with a restricted validity until 1 July 1997 or a BN (0) passport valid for a full 10 years. It will not
of course be possible to carry both a BN(O) and a BDTC passport.
25.
Much work still has to be done in preparing application forms and explanatory leaflets, and a number of detailed points still need to be resolved. While the great bulk of passport issuing will clearly be dealt with in Hong Kong it will be possible to apply for BN(0) passports of course from Passport Offices in the United Kingdom and from consular posts overseas. We hope this will help those who want to apply for a passport wherever they may be at the time. The fee will be set under the Consular Fees Act 1980 and, save for exchange variations, it will be the same throughout the world.
26.
The Governor is at present responsible for the issue of passports in Hong Kong but since BN (0) passports will continue in force after 1997, we think it would be more appropriate for them to be issued in the name of the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary. This requires a format which makes it quite clear that the document carries the full authority of Her Majesty's Government.
27. One issue which has been of particular concern is the right of abode endorsement to be placed in BN (0) passports. This needs to be agreed with the Chinese Government because the UK Government cannot give such a right in the Special Administrative Region after 1997. We have therefore discussed this matter with the Chinese Government in the Joint Liaison Group. They have agreed in principle that the wording of the endorsement should be as follows:
"The holder of this passport has Hong Kong permanent identity card
No. (the number will be entered) which states that the holder
has the right of abode in Hong Kong."
7
'ཏྭཱ ཀ ས བྦཾ། བྷཱཀྐ། ཨ, ཨཐ ཏྭཱ ཙ སཏཱ ཙྩུ ཀྑུདྡྷ ཎཱ
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