TNAG-0660-FCO40-809-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-British-nationality-1977 — Page 174

CONFIDENTIAL

DSR 11C

Unlige tyber

largly

b. The present scheme of citizenship derives from

the British Nationality Act 1948 which has been

amended some 40 times. The law is now difficult

to understand and revision is long overdue. Much

has changed in the world and in the Commonwealth in the 30 years since passage of the Act, not least the international position of the United Kingdom. The need for reform is widely recognised

both in the United Kingdom and overseas. The Government have therefore had a study made of ways in which the law might be brought up to date.

c. The proposals in the Green Paper represent a funda-

mental departure from the present scheme of citizen- ship. The Green Paper proposes that the law of nationality to showed nationality should be revised so that immigration policies could be lased on citizenship and alleged discrimination on grounds of colour be eliminated. The new scheme proposes the abolition of citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies and the creation

of two separate citizenships which would be called (Boc) British Citizenship and British Overseas Citizenship The new British Citizenship would be held by people with certain specified ties with the United Kingdom and who alone would have the unrestricted right of entry. British Overseas Citizenship would be held by those who have ties with an existing dependent ter- ritory. Under transitional arrangements BOC would additionally be held by those present Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKCs) who have no ties

Kin Uni

with/Sith£fsthя¿1¤¿‡§Åà¤à¥¤£8Fr£¤ory. The long-term

aim would be to confine British Overseas Citizenship

to those with the right of entry to a dependency. The complex distinctions that now govern the right of entry to the United Kingdom would disappear and citizenship would become the test. In other words, "patriality" would be replaced by citizenship.

d. The impact of the proposals on immigration into the

United Kingdom would be slight. Most of those who would become British Overseas Citizens do not at present have the right of entry. There are some 100,000 CUKCs from

3

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/other

D 107991 400,000 7/76 904 953