TNAG-1567-FCO40-2132-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-and-passports-Hong-Kong-(Br-1986 — Page 48

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Convention. Schedule 2 therefore makes provision within the terms of the Convention whereby stateless persons may in prescribed circumstances acquire British citizenship British Dependent Territories citizenship, British Overseas citizenship, or British

subject status as appropriate. In some cases the acquisition of the status in question is automatic, in other cases there is an entitlement to registration if

certain conditions permitted by the Convention are met.

5. During the course of the debates on the Bill the Government made it plain that the provisions of Schedule 2 fully met the United Kingdom's international obligations

on statelessness. Indeed some of the conditions which the Convention permitted

us to impose were not imposed, The current provisions are therefore more generous

than our international obligations require.

BN(0) AND BOC STATUS

6. BN(0) status will carry with it similar rights as British Overseas citizenship,

BN(0)s may travel on British passports describing them as BN(0)s; like BOCs they will be entitled to British consular protection in third countries; they will be

Commonwealth citizens; and they will have an entitlement to registration as British

citizens like other British nationals once they have lived here for 5 years.

7.

British Overseas citizenship is a recognised nationality status, Ite holders

are not therefore stateless. British Overseas citizens are in exactly the same

position now as they were before the BNA 1981 came into force, when they were British

nationals who did not have the right of abode in the United Kingdom. Some 2 million

such people automatically became British Overseas citizens on 1 January 1983. The

provisions in the British Nationality Act 1981 which brought this about, and the provisions in Subicdule & to the DNA 1981 which malte provision for the moquisition of British Overseas citizenship in certain circumstances to prevent statelessness were fully debated and approved by Parliament in 1981.