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Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs presents his compliments to their Excellencies and Messieurs the Heads of Diplomatic Missions in London and has the honour to inform them that the Hong
Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986, made on 5 June 1986
under the Hong Kong Act 1985, will come into operation on 1 July 1987.
The Hong Kong Act 1985 made provision for the ending of British sovereignty and jurisdiction over Hong Kong as from 1 July 1997, in accordance with the terms of the Joint
Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of
the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong. With effect from 1 July 1997 Hong Kong will become a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of
China.
Under the provisions of the 1986 Order, British
Dependent Territories citizens who derive that status from
a connection with Hong Kong will lose
lose that status from 1
July 1997. However, the Order has created a new form of
British nationality, namely British National (Overseas),
which such British Dependent Territories citizens will have
the right to acquire between 1 July 1987 and 30 June 1997
(or 31 December 1997 in the case of persons born after 1
January 1997 but before 1 July 1997).
The status of
British National (Overseas) may be retained for life, but
will not be transmissible to future generations.
/The