TNAG-2189-FCO40-3126-Hong-Kong-nationality-package-1990 — Page 37

Tim Raison Esq MP House of Commons London SW1A OAA

When we spoke recently I promised to write to you about the type of citizenship to be awarded to dependants under our proposed citizenship scheme for Hong Kong.

The British Nationality Act (1981) defines two types of British citizenship:

(a) British citizenship "otherwise than by descent" (which permits the transmission of British citizenship to one's offspring);

(b)

British citizenship "by descent" (which is a form of citizenship not automatically transmissible to one's offspring).

In the case of citizenship "by descent", holders of this form of citizenship may pass on British citizenship to their dependants only if they are serving in Crown or other designated service, having been recruited for that service in the UK, or if the dependant is born in the UK.

Our intention is that the 50,000 primary beneficiaries under our scheme (ie the "heads of household") should receive the equivalent of citizenship "otherwise than by descent"; and that their dependants should receive an equivalent of citizenship "by descent". This means that the children of the primary beneficiaries under our scheme will not be able to pass on British citizenship to the next generation, except under the specific circumstances as detailed above.

The rationale behind this is that

(a) we need to give passports to spouses and children under 18 in order to avoid drawing heads of household to the UK to secure the status of their dependants, but

(b) we want to limit the potential immigration commitment from future generations which would result from our scheme.

Francis Maude

TIPAAG