.7
Nationality and Treaty Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Clive House Petty France London SW1H 9HD
Senhor Alberto Borges Portuguese Embassy Consular Section Silver City House
62 Brompton Road LONDON
SW3 1BJ
Telephone 01-213
PA
Comm
AND
621 0The Pa
Your reference
HKD Lisbon
(coped to Hons [cons
Our reference GNP 343/32
Dato
11 December 1986
panar
7/12
1151
HITK
340/
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
18 DEC 1986
DESK OFFICER INDEX
HEISTRY
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Imek
VISAS FOR BRITISH HONG KONG PASSPORT HOLDERS
We discussed your current visa instructions. You told me that British passport holders are required to apply for visas to visit Portugal unless their passport describes them as "British Subject: Citizen of United Kingdom and Colonies". I explained that this description is not used in British passports issued from
1 January 1983 and promised to let you have an explanation of the current position.
From 1 January 1949 until 31 December 1982 the description "British Subject: Citizen of United Kingdom and Colonies" applied to all British nationals whose citizenship was obtained through a connection with the United Kingdom, an existing Colony or a former Colony. was in accordance with the British Nationality Act 1948. On
This
1 January 1983, this law was replaced by the British Nationality Act 1981. On that date, every Citizen of United Kingdom and Colonies acquired one of three new citizenships:
British citizenship
British Dependent Territories citizenship
(BDTC)
British Overseas Citizens (BOC)
for persons whose close connections are with the United Kingdom;
for persons whose close connections are with an existing Colony
(described collectively in our nationality law as the Dependent Territories);
for the remainder, usually people whose connections are with a former dependent territory.
All British citizens have right of abode (ie the right to settle permanently at any time) in the United Kingdom and BDTCs normally have right of abode in the dependent territory with which they are connected. A British passport issued to a BDTC will usually be endorsed to show the holder's right of abode in a particular dependent territory.
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