TNAG-1383-FCO40-1831-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-and-citizenship-1985 — Page 39

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Mr Galsworthy

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CONFIDENTIAL

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MEETING WITH HOME OFFICE: NATIONALITY ORDER IN COUNCIL

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1. I attach a copy of the agreed provisional agenda for Monday's meeting with the Home Office and copies of relevant papers. I have discussed these questions with Mr Hoare, Miss Veale of N and TD and

Mr Grainger. You may find the following comments on the agenda items

helpful.

2. We agreed that it was right that the Order should refer to

the requirement in the UK Memorandum that BNO status will only be acquired by such persons if they hold such a British Passport. We were not however convinced the Hong Kong's proposed wording was right. Mr Grainger proposed the replacement of ''on being issued with11 in Article 4(2) of the revised order by 'and on being so registered shall be issued with or included in..''. I can see difficulties in this formula too in restricting the prerogative issue of passports, but it should be possible to come

3. We again agreed with Hong Kong's proposal, but disagreed with their redraft. on Commonwealth Citizenship. Mr Grainger suggested that it might be possible to draft whereby BNOS would be treated

as though they were Commonwealth Citizens.

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with adequate wardry.

Effect in other ('wrack counting 4. Adoption/Registration: We were not entirely convinced by Hong Kong's case on these two points. It seemeed to us that adoption and registration were not entirely fortuitous in the same way that birth #k might b

and therefore did have a bearing on whether the person should be identified as a BDTC by virtue of a connection with Hong Kong. If we were to reject registration as a connection with Hong Kong entirely it would be difficult to know how to deal with people registered under 17(1) of the BNA, which allows discretionary registration in a Dependent Territory of people who may have no connection with any other territory. On the other hand Hong Kong were right to point to the way in which the BNA dealt with adoption and registration in Hong Kong.

CONFIDENTIAL

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