The argument usually adduced by British husbands working in
Hong Kong is that their morale is adversely affected by the fact
that their wives cannot obtain the security of British citizenship
unless they resign and return with their wives to the
United Kingdom. Our response to this has usually been that the wife of a British citizen has the right to accompany her husband to the
United Kingdom at any time and can obtain settlement and citizenship in the normal way. The Home Secretary announced during Second
Reading of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Bill on 19 April 1990
that the widow or widower of a British citizen resident in Hong Kong
would be allowed to come to the United Kingdom if they were still
resident in Hong Kong, had not remarried and did not have a
citizenship other than BDTC or Chinese. This is a valuable
reassurance to those British citizens in Crown or designated service
in Hong Kong who are married to BDTCS or Chinese nationals and who
are anxious about the fate of their spouse in the event of their
being widowed before achieving settlement in the United Kingdom.
That concession will not, however, help the men married to women with other nationalities, such as Filipino. And it does not, in
any event, assist us in determining applications for citizenship from those whose husbands are in Crown or designated service and who
may apply under existing law for the 3 year United Kingdom residence requirement to be waived.
We are currently considering an application from
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