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CHIEF MINISTER OF GIBRALTAR'S CALL ON SECRETARY OF STATE, 5 FEBRUARY
BACKGROUND
BRITISH PASSPORTS FOR HONG KONG RESIDENTS
1.
Gibraltar (the Governor's office) have been exploring with the Home Office and the FCO over the last 2 years the possibility of attracting investment from wealthy Hong Kong residents in return for a nationality status linked to Gibraltar. Gibraltar was originally attracted by the thought of intoducing a scheme along the lines of the British Nationality Scheme put in place by the British Nationality
(Hong Kong) Act 1990 and allowing for 50,000 British Dependent Citizens in Hong Kong (plus dependents) to be granted British citizenship without the need to fulfil normal UK residence requirements. Both we and the Home Office have explained that this is a non-starter.
2.
Gibraltar have continued to argue the advantages for Gibraltar's economy of attracting investment from Hong Kong linked to the granting of BDTC status in Gibraltar. The Home Office clarified the position again this month. The main difficulty is that the British Nationality Act (1981) contains an unwaivable requirement that an applicant for naturalisation must be physically present in the dependent territory on a date 5 years before an application is made. It would require primary legislation to alter it and there are no plans for this in the foreseeable future.
3. A further complication is that those would be investors who already have BDTC status through their link with Hong Kong cannot apply to become BDTCS through a connection with Gibraltar before 1997, when BDTC status in Hong Kong comes to an end.
4.
The Home Office advise that the Governor of Gibraltar's power to waive absences during the 5 year qualifying period must be carefully applied and that to decide to waive absences for a particular group of class of applicants in advance, in return for investment would be unlawful. There might however be scope for investors to make periodic trips over a 5 year period and then to apply for citizenship. We have passed this on to the Governor's office.
5.
Mr Greenstock (AUSS) wrote last March to Mr Bossano in response to queries about how the British Nationality Scheme for Hong Kong worked and explaining the terms of the residence requirement under the 1981 Nationality Act.
bossano.dbj
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