Legislative position
2. There is no means of granting citizenship within existing
legislation. The British Nationality Act 1981 gives no
registration entitlement to the spouses of existing British
citizens. They have to meet the normal 3 year United Kingdom
residence requirement for naturalisation. If they are living
overseas they can only be granted British citizenship if their
husband or wife is in Crown service or service designated under
section 2(3) of the 1981 Act. The spouses of British citizens
not in Crown or designated service and the widows or widowers of
British citizens who may or may not have been in such service
before their deaths, have no avenue to British citizenship under
the 1981 Act as long as they remain in Hong Kong. New primary
legislation would be necessary to meet this demand. Legislation
would not be justified given the fact that the small number of
people concerned are eligible for settlement in the United
Kingdom and can then apply to be naturalised in the normal way.
Line to take
3.
The legislative councillors are familiar with the
immigration assurance already given by a previous Home Secretary.
They may also recall that the Government has introduced
arrangements which enable the spouses of ex-servicemen to be
registered with the Immigration Department in Hong Kong, so that
any subsequent application for entry clearance can be processed
very quickly indeed.