TNAG-2198-FCO40-3152-Hong-Kong-nationality-spouses-and-widows-of-British-expatria-1990 — Page 29

From The Minister of State

1 Nich,

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

৬ই

нко 340/8

NREGISTRY 2 1 AUG 1990

FFICER

PA

REGISTRY

Acun Taken

15 August 1990

Thank you for your letter of 26 July to Douglas Hurd enclosing one from Mr David Buckley of D2 Fiona Garden, 17 Miles, Castle Peak Road, New Territories, Hong Kong about the immigration and nationality position of the spouses of British citizens resident in Hong Kong. I am replying in Douglas' absence.

Spouses of British citizens in Hong Kong already have the assurance that, if the family were to wish to leave the territory they would have no difficulty in entering the United Kingdom. Under the Immigration Rules the spouse of a British citizen is entitled to accompany him or her to the United Kingdom for settlement provided that:

(i) the primary purpose of the marriage was not to

obtain admission to the United Kingdom;

(ii)

the parties to the marriage have met and intend to live permanently together; and

(iii) the parties can maintain and accommodate themselves

adequately without recourse to public funds.

In practice it is most unlikely that the existing spouse of an expatriate British citizen who has been working overseas and is returning to the United Kingdom would not meet these requirements. Last year only 4 out of 269 applications for entry clearance as a spouse or fiance (e) were refused in Hong Kong and the four cases which were refused all involved the very different situation where a person settled in the United Kingdom sought to bring in someone he or she was marrying from abroad.

We do, however, understand the concern of expatriates that their spouses should be able to obtain some evidence of their status and an assurance that if they decided to come to the United Kingdom an application for the

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