Sigman
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"not
香港總督府
CONFIDENTIAL
Ab
GOVERNMENT HOUSES Hemoch,
HONG KONG
11 May 1990
18 1715
cc Mr McLaren
Mr Burns
Mr Morras
yer brec?
To aurait H.O:
chraft.
juizle
$17
cc this Gimsey.s
La Unit, 1,0.
17/5
Grateful for draft reply, Jia's
In consultation with the
Home Olice
British citizenship for spouses
of British citizens in HKG service
√10/5
As you know, since the debate began early last year on the right of abode issue, there has been continuing interest among British citizens here about the possibility of securing citizenship for their foreign. born wives. The position was uncertain at the time of the Secretary of State's announcement of the nationality package last December but has now been clarified by the Home Secretary in his speech on the second reading of the Nationality Bill on 19 April.
I
Right of entry for wives of British citizens, even after the death of their husbands, is certainly an important step forward even if, inevitably, it will not reduce by much the pressure for something more. realise that we are unlikely to achieve more on this point in terms of the Bill itself than the Home Secretary has now laid down. But there is one particular aspect of the problem where I think further work is needed. This is the question of the status of wives of expatriate civil servants in Hong Kong. There are probably some 100 expatriate civil servants from the UK whose wives are not British citizens. About 50 of these are in the Police and another 10 are Administrative Officers. The balance are mainly professionals, many in the directorate.
Given that there is limited expatriate recruitment these days, and that the number likely to marry betwen now and 1997 will not be large, it is reasonable to make a guestimate that, by 1997, there could be about 150