DET
CONFIDENTIAL
(NTD) GNN 340/393/1 (26
1985
003367 MDLIAN 1278
by
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 2016
OF 250528Z JUNE 91
HKD 340/1
гв
TOP COPY Q DIST?
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE REGISTRATION OF HKBDTCS AS BN (0)S.
1. DURING THE DRAFTING STAGE OF THE HONG KONG (BRITISH NATIONALITY) ORDER 1986 IN 1985, YOU PROPOSED A SET CUT-OFF DATES BEFORE WHICH HKBDTCS WHO WISHED TO RETAIN THEIR BRITISH NATIONALITY MUST APPLY FOR REGISTRATION AS BN (0)S. ON FURTHER EXCHANGE OF VIEWS, YOU AGREED TO OUR PROPOSAL TO IDENTIFY SUCH CUT-OFF DATES IN ANOTHER ORDER-IN-COUNCIL AT A LATER STAGE WHEN
THE DEMAND FOR BN (0) STATUS BECAME CLEARER. WE ALSO RECOMMENDED THE INCLUSION OF AN 'ESCAPE CLAUSE' IN THE FUTURE ORDER TO ENABLE
THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO REGISTER AT HIS DISCRETION ANY PERSON FAILING TO APPLY FOR A BN (0) PASSPORT BEFORE THE DUE DATES. YOUR -TELNOS 259 OF 13 FEB 85, 393 OF 11 MAR 85, 1392 OF 20 SEPT 85 AND
OUR TELNO 337 OF 13 FEB 85 ARE RELEVANT.
(72 42
254
2. THE NUMBER OF HKBDTCS POTENTIALLY ELIGIBLE FOR REGISTRATION AS
BN (0)S BEFORE 1 JULY 1997 WAS ESTIMATED IN OCTOBER 1990 TO BE 3.4 MILLION. SO FAR, ABOUT 1.7 MILLION HKBDTCS HAVE OBTAINED BDTC
PASSPORTS AND ONLY ABOUT 0.21 MILLION HKBDTCS HAVE OBTAINED BN (0) PASSPORTS. IN VIEW OF THE LARGE NUMBER OF POTENTIAL BN (0) PASSPORT APPLICANTS, WE CONSIDER IT APPROPRIATE TO PLAN AHEAD FOR THE BN (0) PASSPORT CONVERSION SO AS TO AVOID A LAST-MINUTE RUSH CLOSER TO 1997.
3. IT ALSO APPEARS TO US THAT AN ORDER UNDER PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE SCHEDULE TO THE HONG KONG ACT 1985 COULD REQUIRE DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS OF BDTCS TO APPLY BEFORE DIFFERENT SPECIFIED DATES. WE WOULD BE GRATEFUL IF YOU WOULD CONFIRM THAT YOU SHARE OUR VIEW AND COMMENT ON OUR PROPOSAL TO INCLUDE AN 'ESCAPE CLAUSE' IN THE ORDER.
4. GRATEFUL IF YOU WOULD ALSO LET US KNOW WHETHER WE COULD INTRODUCE CUT-OFF DATES FOR ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR NATURALISATION AND REGISTRATION AS BDTCS SO THAT SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS MAY HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO APPLY FOR BN (0) PASSPORTS. AT PRESENT, IT TAKES ABOUT 18 MONTHS TO PROCESS NATURALISATION APPLICATIONS.
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