Donald Tsang JP
Director of Administration
Hong Kong Government
DRAFT
NTY/88 387/1333/1
WIVES OF BRITISH CITIZENS SERVING IN HONG KONG
You passed to Liz Grimsey a letter dated 7 March 1990 from a group
of Administrative Officers in the Hong Kong Government expressing concern about the nationality status of their non-British wives (copy attached for ease of reference).
As you know, the British Nationality Act 1981 requires a period of 3 years' United Kingdom residence by a non-British spouse in order to acquire British citizenship by virtue of marriage to a British citizen. However the Home Secretary does have discretion to waive
that residence requirement for the spouse of a British citizen in Crown or designated service outside the United Kingdom. Normally
he would not expect to do so except where the marriage has subsisted for 3 years; where the wife 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.
We receive a steady trickle of applications from the wives of men
in Crown or designated service all over the world although in the
last few years a number have come from Hong Kong. Very few such applications (other than those involving members of HM Diplomatic
Service) meet the criteria described above.
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