REC
HKD 32010
2 2 JAN 1993
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SWIA 2AH
20 January 1993
INDE
The Rt Hon Virginia Bottomley MP
House of Commons
London
SWLA OAA
From The Minister of State
Mr hoodrow
пробю
22/1 Ms Banner-Jones
де
Dew Virginig
5
Thank you for your letter of 11 January enclosing one from your constituent, Dr Jill Clough, Headmistress of the Royal Naval School in Haslemere, Surrey about British passports for Hong Kong Chinese personnel working at HMS Tamar.
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Let me first say that I, and the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, share your constituent's admiration for the people of Hong Kong. We are determined to do all we can to ensure that in the final years of British administration we carry out all our obligations to Hong Kong and lay the foundations for the territory's continuing success.
On the specific point about passports, the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990 was introduced by the British Government in order to enable key people in the public and private sectors of the Hong Kong community to obtain British passports. Under the scheme, which operates on a point system, full British passports will be offered to a maximum of 50,000 heads of household. The spouses and children under 18 of these principal beneficiaries will also receive passports. These 50,000 places are now being allocated to successful applicants in two tranches. The deadline for applications for the first tranche of about 40,000 places was 28 February 1991. The Hong Kong Government and Home Office team are currently processing these applications and aim to complete them some time this year. The remaining places in the second tranche will be issued between 1994 and 1997 in order to provide an opportunity to those Hong Kong people who will by then have moved into key positions.
Local serving members of the Royal Navy are able to apply under this scheme, and there is a specific allocation of places for them. However, because of the constraint on numbers and the need to provide for all sectors of the Hong Kong community, competition to obtain a place is strong and there are bound to be disappointments. Points are awarded for attributes such as age, experience, qualifications, and only those applicants who score sufficient points will be recommended for registration as
/British
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