From The Minister of State
The Hon Francis Maude MP
Patrick Thompson Esq MP House of Commons London
SW1A OAA
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SWIA 2AH
23 February 1990
Dan Patuch
Thank you for your letter of 29 January 1990 enclosing one from Mr S Hawgood of Flat 111, Green Lane Hall, 32 Green Lane, Happy Valley, Hong Kong, in which he inquires about the procedure for obtaining a British passport for his wife without having to leave Hong Kong..
There is nothing under the nationality laws of the United Kingdom which would allow the spouse of a British citizen in Crown or Designated Service under the government of a dependent territory to qualify automatically for a United Kingdom passport.
Mrs Hawgood would have an avenue to British citizenship (and, thereafter, to a United Kingdom passport) through an application for naturalisation under section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981. The requirements for this are set out in Part B of the attached leaflet, BN7. As you will see, these include the requirement to have completed, broadly speaking, a continuous period of three years' residence in the United Kingdom.
However, the Home Secretary may waive the need to fulfil this requirement if on the date of application the person to whom the applicant is married is serving abroad in Crown Service or in service designated by the Secretary of State as being closely identified with the overseas activities of Her Majesty's Government.
All eligible officials in the government of a dependent territory, which includes those members of the Hong Kong Police Force who are British citizens and whose recruitment took place in the United Kingdom, are covered by the British Citizenship (Designated Service) Order