show
that this would be in its, and the United Kingdom's,
interests.
I believe that the assurances which the Home Secretary has given in respect of the spouses of expatriate British citizens, together with the new arrangements for recording and confirming spouses' details, deal very fully and fairly with the concerns which have been expressed by the expatriate community in Hong Kong. For the reasons I have explained, we do not think it is
either right or necessary to include a provision in the Bill to provide full British citizenship for the spouses of existing British citizens, or to amend the 1981 Act to allow time spent
in Hong Kong to
to count towards the three year United Kingdom residence requirement. However what we have done is to offer assurances which should remove any fears which the expatriate community may have had about whether their spouses or widows will
be allowed to settle in the United Kingdom at any time in the future should they wish to do so.
I hope you will be able to accept that on this basis British citizens resident in Hong Kong need feel no reason to leave Hong Kong simply to secure their spouse's immigration position.
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