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ii) We believe that to grant our request would be easy to do as part of the proposed British Nationality Hong Kong) Bill. In the introduction to the Bill it states quite clearly, that the purpose of the
ill is to "Provide for the acquisition of British citizenship by Selected Hong Kong residents...
Our spouses are Hong Kong residents and can therefore no doubt be considered in connection with this Bill.
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iii) As indicated earlier, all we ask is simply that the mechanism by which our spouses are already entitled to apply for citizenship be modified to permit the qualification period to take place in Hong Kong. Hence there is no major policy change required. We have been advised that such an amendment may not even require a change in legislation.
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iv) No unwelcome precedent or open ended commitment need ensue this. Our suggestion is that this amendment be limited specifically to Hong Kong, as is the proposed Bill itself. Our circumstances arise solely due to the fact that an existing British territory is being returned to a foreign power. Whilst there may be British citizens elsewhere in the world whose spouses are in a similar position to ours, they are presumably not living in a British territory facing the circumstances of Hong Kong. Surely in this situation it would be quite understandable for the Government to deal with our situation as a clearly special case.
v) Granting our request would not lead to any higher incidence of abuse of marriage laws since appropriate controls could so easily be implemented to allay any fears on this point. We would happily comply with the most rigorous of procedures in order to demonstrate that we were bona fide.
For
vi)In an attempt to justify the current position the Government has in the past told us that it was considered important that our spouses had a "residential link" with the UK and hence the need to resettle in Britain before the three year clock would start. This is surely entirely inconsistent with other aspects of UK immigration policy. example, citizens of Gibraltar and the Falklands do not need any residential link with the UK in order to have a full British passport. Approximately 200 million EEC citizens have entry and employment rights in Britain without the need for any residential or, for that matter any other link with Britain. Indeed it would appear that the whole of East Germany has the right to live in Britain if it wishes. The citizens of Macao, as a result of their Portuguese passports will of course be entitled to settle in Britain. In this context we wonder therefore why it is that our own spouses, with all their connections with Britain do not qualify in any way.
10. Additional anomaly
In addition to the anomalies raised above we would point out the irony that the spouses of those Hong Kong citizens who qualify under the package will automatically qualify for a full British passport without having to leave Hong Kong. The Government has taken great pains to
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