The Lord Caithness,
Minister of the Foreign Office, c/o Omelco,
12/F, Swire House,
Chater Road,
Hong Kong.
25 July 1991
Dear Lord Caithness,
SPLIT FAMILIES UNDER THE
BRITISH NATIONALITY ACT 1981
1
We are a group of over 100 British Citizen families with a Hong Kong origin desperately seeking to secure British Citizenship for our children (born before 1 January 1983 outside the U.K.) who are currently only eligible to apply for British Dependent Territories Citizen or British Nationality (Overseas) passports. We are thus appealing for your support and help to correct the grievances and injustices caused by the above Act.
The background
2
Our group of parents are Hong Kong residents who had previously gone to the U.K. mostly as students in the 60's and 70's and went on to acquire British Citizenship by residence.
3
The majority of such parents settled back in Hong Kong well before 1 January 1983 (date of enforcement of the 1981 Act) and gave birth to children in Hong Kong. When the new law came into effect on 1 January 1983, children born after that date are eligible for British Citizenship while children born before that date are not. It is therefore not uncommon to find in many families with a mix of children born before and after 1 January 1983 in which case the older ones are British Dependent Territories Citizens and the younger ones are British Citizens.
4
We, as parents, of this special group of children feel particularly aggrieved because:-
(a)
(b)
As full U.K. citizen, our dependent children born before 1983 are deprived of British Citizenship unless the family or at least one of the parents is willing to resettle int he U.K. for a period up to 5 years;
the requirement to resettle in the U.K. could mean that one of the parents may have to remain in Hong Kong as the bread winner and thus lead to the undesirable effect of splitting the family unit;