The Rt. Hon. Douglas Hurd
Ar Ricketts, AED (in Hongkong) (33)
ader
for aduci forem
Le lif
PS/MrSontrad
1' Hum. (in 171.)
Secretary for Foreign & Commonwealth Office
c/o Governor's House Hong Kong
2.C
c/o Dr C.H. Leong
1101, Central Building Pedder Street Hong Kong
24 July 1992
HKD 340/6.
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
27 JUL 1992
20/41:
Hardec. to pay. pl.
√27/2
Dear Sir
SPLIT FAMILIES UNDER THE
BRITISH NATIONALITY ACT 1981
1
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
REGISTRY
Action Taken
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 UK) who are currently only eligible to apply for British Dependent Territories Citizen or British Nationality (Overseas) passports.
2 In June 1991, we have applied under Section (3)(i) of the British Nationality Act 1981 to seek the Home Secretary's discretion to register our dependent children as British citizens. Subsequent to our submission, several visits were made by Dr C.H. Leong, Legislative Councillor on our behalf, to the Home Office to explain our case personally to the Secretary of State. We were hopeful that after Dr Leong's visits our cases would be considered favourably before the General Election in April 1992. However, after submitting our application for more than a year since June 1991 we still have not heard from the Home Office and we are thus appealing to you both for your support and assistance to expedite our applications to correct the grievances and injustices caused by the British Nationality Act 1981.
The Background
3
Our group
of parents are Hong Kong residents who had previously gone to the UK mostly as students in the 60's and 70's and went on to acquire British Citizenship by residence.
4
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.
20'd
898T TZS 298
3SNOH INEWNANOS XH
ST: IT 2667-770-22