01-MAR-1991 19:00
"
DIRECTOR OF ADM.
布政司署
港下亞
道
**** Our Rey
*ANY YOUR REF
852 877 0802 P.02
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
Mr. Jeremy Page,
Home Office, Lunar House.
40 Wellesley Road. Croydon CR9 2BY UNITED KINGDOM
Dean Strency
PQ from Alistair Darling
1 March 1991
Thank you for your letter dated 28 February 1991 concerning a Parliamentary Question from Mr. Alistair Darling.
We received a total of 57,862 applications under the British Nationality Scheme by midnight 28 February 1991. This number will go up when applications despatched by post in the last couple of days are received by the Hong Kong Immigration Department. The additional number is expected to be in the range of thousands.
We have no idea why the number of applications is less than anticipated, and we do not wish to speculate on the reasons for this at this stage.
We formerly estimated that about 300,000 people would be interested in applying under the Scheme. This estimate was made on the basis of the population size of people eligible under various Occupational Groups and Approved Occupations at around 600,000. After subtracting the number of foreign nationals estimated at 160,000 included in this population, and on the basis of various surveys done last year which concluded that as high as 80% of the professionals were looking for an assurance policy of the right of abode elsewhere, the guestimate of 300,000 potential applicants was derived. Anecdotal evidence received now suggests that the number of foreign nationals in Hong Kong is significantly higher than 160,000 in this group.
The final number of applications received is now estimated to be more than 60,000. This means the one in six of the number of "key personnel" covered under this Scheme has submitted an application. This is a significant response.. You may also wish to note that the number of application forms distribution was more than 355,000, representing the high level interest in the scheme.