TNAG-1333-FCO40-1765-Future-of-Hong-Kong-legislation-1985 — Page 19

CONFIDENTIAL

Order will identify the BDTCs affected and it is suggested, subject to the draftsman's views, that it will be appropriate in the Bill to

limit the field to persons having BDTC status by virtue of a

connection with Hong Kong (as in the UK Memorandum). We refer to

11 'a" connection deliberately to allow for the possibility that the connection may be through another person, e.g. a person or spouse.

9. The reference to Hong Kong in the list of dependent territories

in Schedule 6 to the 1981 Act will have to be deleted and this will

be done by the Order in Council. This will prevent the acquisition

after 30 June 1997 of BDTC status by virtue of a connection with

Hong Kong and that is the intention. The draftsman may wish to note that section 50 (13) contains power by Order in Council to amend Schedule 6 but only in circumstances which are not relevant to this

exercise.

10. The Bill should enable the Order in Council to deprive the persons affected of BDTC status as from 1 July 1997 and entitle them

to acquire a new form of British nationality to be created by the Order. This will not be automatic they will have to apply for it. The means by which they will do this has yet to be decided and will

be set out in the Order in Council.

11. We wish to be in a position to process all applications for the new status by 1 July 1997, except in the case of persons born after 31 December 1996 and before 1 July 1997 whose applications are to be

processed before the end of 1997. To ensure that this is practicable it will be necessary to provide in the Order in Council that applications must be made by a date to be specified, with a different date for the latter case, and the enabling power should enable this to be done.

12.

It is likely (though not yet finally decided) that we shall wish to bring the new form of nationality into being well before 1 July 1997, possibly as early as 1987, and that those who acquire it will hold both the new status and their existing BDTC status until 1 July 1997. The enabling power should allow for this.

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