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HOME OFFICE
QUEEN ANNE'S GATE
LONDON SWIH 9AT
I
RECEIVER
PARLIAMENTARY UNDER
SECRETARY OF STATE
2 O AUG 1990
DESK OFFICER INDEX
PA
STRY
6 JUL 1990
Dear Mr Maude,
HONG KONG: BRITISH CITIZENSHIP FOR SPOUSES OF BRITISH CITIZENS
IN CROWN SERVICE
90HED 36014 (534)
Thank you for your letter of 2 July on this subject reply separately to the other point raised in it about passports.
I shall
We are well aware of the sensitivity of the citizenship issue, and officials here have been considering the same point raised by the Governor in a letter sent to your officials on 11 May.
The scope of the provision is as you describe. For the spouse to be eligible, the British citizen's recruitment to that Crown or designated service must have taken place in the United Kingdom - British citizens recruited locally are not eligible. Under present policy we would not normally expect to grant such applications except where the marriage has subsisted for three years; where the spouse could not meet the United Kingdom residence requirement in the foreseeable future; and where the employing organisation could demonstrate that granting the application would be in the interests of the organisation and its service to United Kingdom interests. Where the marriage had lasted for less than three years we would normally look for compelling operational or security reasons to justify naturalisation in advance of a period of United Kingdom residence. This restrictive policy is consistent with the general principle of the BNA 1981 that applicants must normally comply with the residence requirement. Indeed, under the powers to which you refer the Home Secretary may waive the residence requirement if he thinks fit "in the special circumstances of any particular case". This means that each case must be considered on its merits, and that we could not, for example, guarantee blanket approval for Hong Kong cases as a class.
The Hon Francis Maude MP
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