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BACKGROUND
3. In Dependent Territories generally the Governor
exercises the royal prerogative in the issue of passports,
the name of the dependent territory is printed on the
front cover of the passport, supplies are ordered direct
and paid for by the dependent territory government, and
it rests with that government both to set the passport
fee and to use the revenue as it sees fit. Although we
encourage the dependent territory governments to set
their passport fee at a level comparable to the United
Kingdom fee charged under our Consular Fees Order, there
is no compulsion on them to do so.
6. The fees chargeable for passport services performed
in the name of the Secretary of State are those laid down
in Consular Fees Orders made under the Consular Fee Act
1980 and these will be the fees chargeable by the Governor
of Hong Kong when acting as agent for the Secretary of
State. The fee for the issue of a passport is currently
£15.
4. The fee for the issue of a passport currently charged
by the Government of Hong Kong under their Fees Ordinance
is HK$ 200, equivalent to about £20. They have informed
us that about 40% of this fee represents the administra-
·
tive costs of issuing the passport. The remaining 60%
represents revenue for the Hong Kong Government.
5.
The Secretary of State agreed to the recommendation
in my submission of 4 October 1985 that, because passports
issued in the name of the Governor of Hong Kong will not
be acceptable to the Chinese authorities after 30 June
1997 on account of their colonial implications, passports
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/issued
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