36
HONG KONG NATIONALITY ORDER IN COUNCIL
BRIEFING NOTES
6.
PASSPORT MATTERS
1.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN entitlement to HOLD a passport AND ISSUING of
passports under Royal Prerogative.
Article 4(2) is a unique entitlement reflecting the terms of the Memoranda
exchanged with the Chinese. Parliament is aware of circumstances in which
passports may be refused at present; where the movement of minors
contrary to court orders is involved;
in
where a person is to be arrested;
very rare cases where an individual's past or proposed activities
render enjoyment of passport facilities contrary to the public interest;
and where a person has been repatriated at publich expense and substantial
debt is outstanding. We believe they can work alongside each other so
that an applicant for a BN (0) passport can be deemed to hold it and so
acquire BN (0) status even if quite exceptionally we decline under the
Royal Prerogative to allow physical possession of the document, which
at all times remains the property of Her Majesty's Government.
2.
PASSPORT FORMAT 1 JULY 1987
3.
It will be the same traditional blue hard covered passport as is issued
by UK passport offices and consular posts to all British nationals at
present.
TIME OF CHANGE TO NEW FORMAT
We shall introduce the new format as soon as possible but the timing
has yet to be settled. It is of course linked with the investment
which we are making in the production of passports which can be printed
by computers and which will be machine readable.
[If pressed on the common EC format passport.] It remains our aim to
issue common EC format passports by 1987.
Db.i
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.