TNAG-1384-FCO40-1832-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-and-citizenship-1985 — Page 244

7.

The Home Office opposed this line. The bulk of the 6(2) registrations in

Hong Kong were, as Hong Kong recognised, of women married to UK born men. Such

women became dual BC/BDTCs on 1.1.83, and their Dependent Territory connection

could only be with Hong Kong. Hong Kong's proposed amendments had already taken

account of this, and had accepted such women as having a connection with Hong Kong

for the propose of the Order. Hong Kong's proposals therefore related to a

minority of registrations, and represented an attempt to distinguish between those

persons who had a continuing link with Hong Kong, and those who had severed or

weakened their links. The Home Office view was that it was wrong to seek to

distinguish in this way. The essential basis of our nationality law was that

British nationality was determined by a person's original links, that is to say at

the time of birth or registration etc. Thus people born or registered in the UK

became CUKCS at birth or registration, acquired right of abode in the UK under the

Immigration Act 1971, and became BCs on 1.1.83. Similarly people born or registered

in a Dependent Territory were CUKCS at birth or registration, but did not acquire

right of abode in the UK, and therefore became BDTCs on 1.1.83. Under our law it

is therefore the place of birth or registration which established the essential

link, and effectively determined the citizenship acquired. The Home Office did not

therefore consider it feasible to seek to establish the extent to which the original

link might be said to subsist no longer as the individual had effectively weakened

that original link in favour of others. It was recognised that the Home Office

approach might lead to some hard cases. But it was considered preferable to try

to deal with these, wherever possible, by administrative means, rather than to

multiply sub-divisions of connections in order to cater for a variety of hypo-

thetical categories of people. Furthermore, to do as Hong Kong proposed would

require a further approach to Ministers, which would be bound to disrupt the

timetable.

8.

Hong Kong accepted the Home Office position, pointing out that it was

essentially a presentational problem for the UK, rather than Hong Kong.

Agreed to leave in the reference to registration in Hong Kong as drafted.

Birth outside a Dependent Territory to BDTC parents in Crown Service under the

Hong Kong Government: Article 2(1)(d)

9.

Hong Kong wished to restrict this to the children of parents who were BDTCs

by connection with Hong Kong as specified in the article. They pointed out that

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