MICA 340/8
REGE
- 2 NOV 1993
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
2 November 1993
J Edwards Esq
c/o Paramatta Estate Mangement Ltd 4/F Ngan Shing Commercial Centre City One Shatin, NT
Hong Kong
London SWIA 2AH
Telephone: 071-
Dear Mr. Edward's,
The Prime Minister's Private Secretary sent you an interim reply to your letter of 20 September to the Prime Minister. He explained that the Prime Minister had raised the question of former Prisoners of War with the Japanese Prime Minister during their talks on 20 September. I should now like to respond to the points you raised about the wives and widows of ex-servicemen in Hong Kong. I apologise for the delay.
I understand the strong feelings which you and others in Hong Kong have on this matter.
The question of British citizenship for this small group was recently raised again with the Home Secretary by a delegation from Legco led by Mrs Emily Lau. The Home Secretary informed them that there was no provision in nationality law to grant British citizenship to a person who was not resident in the United Kingdom. He reminded the delegation that assurances had been given that these ladies would at any time be allowed to come to the United Kingdom to settle and to apply for British citizenship in the normal way.
In order to facilitate their entry into this country, the Immigration Department of Hong Kong has compiled a register of the spouses of ex-servicemen so that any application for entry clearance can be processed very quickly. These records show that 30 wives and 22 widows are affected.
In your letter you mention the scheme under which 50,000 people from Hong Kong can obtain British citizenship. This scheme was set up under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990 in order to give key people working in the public and private sectors of Hong Kong the confidence to continue to contribute to the territory's success and prosperity. scheme operates on a points system and the successful applicant tends to be well below retirement age and in active
The
Bo