TNAG-1405-FCO40-1880-Future-of-Hong-Kong-passports-and-visas-1985 — Page 238

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b)

Issue BNO passports valid for ten years

5.

c)

This is much the simplest and gives the Hong Kong authorities the time to cope;

Issue passports valid for ten years showing the status as BDTC (but only until 1997) and BNO

The option would give reassurance to UMELCO and make more administrative sense than (a). But we need to know clearly from Peking whether it would be acceptable to the Chinese to have reference to the old lapsed status on passports which remained valid. It would be a transitional problem as documents were renewed after 1997 in the new status alone.

(A variant on (a) and (c) above which has occurred to us and which might be possible if the Chinese did object to (c), would be to record both statuses on the passport, but limit the validity of the passport until 1997. This looks administratively complex, and it would certainly store up some heavy passport work for the consular post to be

established in Hong Kong beyond 1997. It would thus have some of the same disadvantages as (a).)

In the light of Hong Kong's decision on these options, there are other consequential issues to be raised and it seems to us to be worth listing them now.

6.

Who is to be competent to deal with registration/passport issue?

The Home Office is content for UK passport offices to deal with any applications received here and we believe that NTD are content also that consular posts overseas should be involved. I do not know quite how complicated establishing entitlement could become, but we think we can certainly cope with those who are BDTCS, with or without passports. We propose this. What is the Hong Kong view?

7. Application forms

While there must be reference to registration in the new status in the form, the aim will be to minimise this and we envisage that it will be essentially, a passport application and follow passport requirements rather than those of registration. Is this how Hong Kong see it and can they anticipate any problems, administrative or otherwise, in proceeding this way?

8. Records to be maintained

We need a central permanent record which should lie in Hong Kong. If UK passport offices and consular posts are involved, they would copy forms or parts of forms to Hong Kong. Is this agreed?

9. Issuing of family passports

We have already drawn attention to the fact that the exchange of memoranda with the Chinese would allow for a spouse as well as a child to be included in a passport, but that paragraph 64 of the White Paper, does not. Strictly speaking, only one adult on a family passport actually possesses the document. Change

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