TNAG-2931-FCO40-4206-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-British-National-(Overseas)-1993 — Page 95

26 MAR '93 14:05 B4 LINO 051 255 1160

mmigration and Nationality Department

Nationality Division 3rd Floor India Buildings Water Street Liverpool L2 0QN

Telephone 051-236 4723

OFFICE

ind

P.3 2

Miss Ingrid Ho

HKD 340/1

Your reference

Security Branch

REC

Our reference

Government Secretariat

Hong Kong

2 9 MAR 1993

Date

NY/93 176/1080/1

26 March 1993

Dear Miss Ho,

рр

Hong Kong (British Nationality) (Amendment) Order 1993

I said in paragraph 2 of my letter of 10 March that I agreed with you that we should exclude provision in the Order for late BDTC applications, given the time it takes to process applications. Mr Rawsthorne wrote to me later to say that he was a little concerned about the BDTC cut off date coming into force 15 months before the handover. What happens, he asked, to someone who wants to be a BN (0) but cannot satisfy the BDTC requirements until a date after 31 March 1996? He thought there should be some let-out for exceptional cases, provided that applications it would be are not made so near to 30 June 1997 that impracticable to complete the BDTC and BN(0) registration process by that date. Given that the applications for BDTC will dry up after 31 March 1996 would it not be possible to complete any exceptional ones much more quickly than that?

I agree that 15 months' leeway might well seem to the outside world to be excessive. On the other hand you might have a very large number of applications arriving before the 31 March 1996 deadline which would absorb all your resources subsequently. Would you have a Have you any estimates of the likely demand?

Clearly a balance has to call upon extra resources if need be? be struck here, leaving the door open as late as we reasonable can, but shutting it finally at a point when we know we could not possibly cope with any more applications. 15 months may be too far one way. Perhaps a final deadline 9 months before the

handover would be reasonable?

I would welcome your observations on this point as quickly as possible.

Yours sincerely

A Hynes

C J KELLY

Сс

Mr Rawsthorne

сс

cc. Miss Brosiks.

✓

Mr. Hayward

39

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Mr Walmsley

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Ms Brooks FCO Legal Counsellor Mr Giles LAB