24 MAY 199 23:32 FROM COI TECH RADIO
TRANSCRIPT J: SELECT COMMITTEE RE HONG KONG 24 MAY 1989
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PAGE.013/056
MR. TIK RENTON (CONTD):
or to remain for a period of time
years
one, two or three
and that is always known as you still have
conditions attached to your right to be here and it is
only normally after three years or four years, depending
on the category in which you came, that those conditions
are removed and you are given indefinite leave to remain,
and in fact that is the penultimate step before applying
for citizenship and so the conditions are
a normal feature
of the first years of living more or less permanently in
this country. Those conditions are removed and you then
normally have one year of indefinite leave to remain,
which you can only lose if you leave the country for wore
than two years and after the expiry of that period, you
can apply for citizenship.
So the advantage of the in-residence terms of the
BDTC situation is that they are entitled to registration
after five years of residence as ✡ means of becoming a
British citizen and that is an entitlement where
naturalisation, which is what applies to other people who
have been here for five years, is at the Home Secretary's
discretion.
Your settlement question: Hong Kong BDTCs granted
total acceptance for settlement on arrival Or
settlement:
On removal of time limit, which I have already explained
806 in 1986;
920 in 1987; 1150 in 1988.