TNAG-1094-FCO40-1344-European-Community-common-format-passports-Hong-Kong-and-Dep-1981 — Page 8

With the compliments of

HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S

CONSUL-GENERAL

Tom

with

papan Me

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هار

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BRITISH CONSULATE-GENERAL

JOHANNES VERMEERSTRAAT 7

AMSTERDAM

10

H M Paterson Esq

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LANNING BANJAR A

Nationality & Treaty Dept

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Clive House Petty France London SW1H 9HD

Dear Pet

PASSPORTS FOR HONG KONG CHINESE

BRITISH CONSULATE-GENERAL,

•

AMSTERDAM.

221/2/81

22

See HKK343/1 1982

28 September 1981

нны

34312

See (1)

RECEPPED ALASTRY RD. 51

12 OCT 1981

DESK OFFICEM

PA

INDEX

ло

13.10

TICA

ALOISTRY Action Taken

Pam 13/10

In my letter (221/2/81) of 25 February written soon after the Consular Conference in Dusseldorf, I raised the issue of the format of the passport to be issued to Citizens of the British Dependent Territories after the British Nationality Bill becomes law. You replied on 16 March saying that the view in London and Hong Kong was that the new passports should look as similar to the existing ones as possible so as to avoid giving the impression that CBDTs were regarded as second class citizens. You also said that you saw no objection in principle to posts holding stocks of Hong Kong passports but that the administrative problems might be considerable.

2. I consulted the consular posts in Germany and received replies from most of them. As one might have expected they reflected varying shades of opinion. Berlin, Hamburg and Hanover confirmed that they agreed that it was desirable that the CBDT passports should be made as distinctive as possible. Frankfurt and Dusseldorf on the other hand, like you, considered that this would cause resentment and that it was not practical politics.

3. In the light of the divergence of views and of the fact that Amsterdam is probably more involved with this problem than any other post in Europe in the first eight months of this year we issued no less than 878 passports to. Hong Kong Chinese out of a total of 3310 - I have been reflecting on my own position. Like Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and you, I now agree that however desirable in theory a new distinctive passport may be (although Ron Capie in Dusseldorf does not agree - he believes that they could lead to complications in the post's day to day contacts with the local authorities), it is unrealistic to believe that Ministers would agree to this. This is quite clear from the debates on the Bill in both Houses which I have found fascinating. I still believe, however, that in cases where a particular dependent territory decides to produce

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its own distinctive cover

and I imagine that Hong Kong for instance will wish to continue to do so - posts which issue reasonable numbers of passports to persons from such a territory should be furnished with a supply so that they may be issued on behalf of the Governor. Nobody could I believe argue with any conviction that it was in any way discriminatory for a CBDT to be issued in Amsterdam with a passport identical with that which he would have received had he applied in Hong Kong.

44. Such a move would I feel sure be welcomed by the authorities of our fellow EC member states to whom we have, I believe, some obligation to do what we can to reduce the confusion caused by the profusion of categories of British nationality and documentation. This confusion will I suppose be ended once the proposed new European Community standard format passport is introduced since that will presumably only be issued to British Citizens who are also Community nationals, i.e. excluding persons from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. But I do not think we need or ought to wait that long.

5. No problem would arise for us in keeping a separate stock and records of Hong Kong passports. It is not for me to say how this could best be done in other countries but in Germany for instance I would have thought that it might be possible to designate the post which issues the most Hong Kong passports as the Hong Kong passport issuing post for the whole country.

6. In replying to my letter several posts in Germany expressed the hope that the issue of BVPs would be discon- tinued when the new passports are introduced. This is of course quite a separate issue and again I realise the diffi- culties. I pass it on however as this is I believe a point on which all consular officers in Western Europe are fully agreed. We are all too conscious of the case with which BVPS may be obtained fraudulently and also used for fraud.

Your ever

Allensia

M.B. Eaden

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All Consulates-General in FRG and Berlin Hong Kong and General Department, FCO, London Chanceries The Hague and Bonn

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