The Concerned British Expatriates' Society
Flat F, 6th floor,
TO: Private Secretary to Mr Francis Maude MP
FROM: Julian Walsh
BY FAX TO: 002-44-1-270-3094
November 29,1989
3 - 3G Robinson Road Hong Kong
Dear Private Secretary,
I represent a small group of British subjects living in Hong Kong who are married to non-British spouses. As you may be aware unless we return to the UK and live there for three years our spouses do not obtain any British citizenship. Living in the Crown Colony of Hong Kong, under a British Administration, does not count. The particular circumstance which concerns us most is what would happen if we were to die before returning to the UK. As the law currently stands our spouse would be left high and dry. Any children of the marriage would be full British subjects of course, but the surviving spouse would have no right of abode or even of entry to the UK. If the children were not of independant age then in practice they too could be denied their rights.
The possibility that in the event of our death our families could be split up, under the most devastating of circumstances, is understandably of great concern to us. On top of this of course is the fact that there
It is not are the particular uncertainties which face Hong Kong.
fantasy to conjecture that, for example, the surviving spouse of a British subject might find that such ties with Britain result in prejudice or even worse in the future Hong Kong SAR,
Typically, those of us in this situation have been in Hong Kong for several years and are in senior managerial or professional positions; many of us with British companies. Most of us would wish to remain here. The factors referred to above are such however that many of us feel that we have no option but to return to the UK to protect our families thereby adding further to the already severe loss of talent in Hong Kong and reducing the contribution made by British expatriates to Hong Kong's continuing prosperity.
We have already submited a letter to Mr Maude, dated November 8,1989 outlining our concerns and asking that consideration be given to allowing residence in Hong Kong to count towards the three year qualifying period for non-British spouses to obtain UK citizenship. Such a concession would permit us, a small group of British subjects, to remain here with the peace of mind that such continued commitment was not jeopardising the future of our families.
We do not feel that our request is controversial or has any undesirable policy consequences, A problem we have of course is in communicating our concerns since we have no MP or other representative and we are a long way from London. We are frankly worried that our position is not fully understood and that our own concerns are overshadowed by issues currently under consideration.
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