United Kingdom/Hong Kong: Whether the holder of a valid United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland passport born in Hong Kong in 1969 would have the right of abode in the United Kingdom
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 August 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ZZZ29932.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, United Kingdom/Hong Kong: Whether the holder of a valid United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland passport born in Hong Kong in 1969 would have the right of abode in the United Kingdom, 1 August 1998, ZZZ29932.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac6a8.html [accessed 19 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
For information on whether the holder of a valid United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland passport would have the right of abode in the United Kingdom, please refer to TCA22344.E of 27 November 1995, GBR10220 of 10 February 1992 and GBR7649 of 28 January 1991.
Further to the information on British passports contained in those Responses, in 1995 the British government reaffirmed "its policy that granted 50,000 [Hong Kong] heads of families the right to a full British passport and nationality" (Migration News Oct. 1995); by the day of the turnover of Hong Kong to China, "some three million Hong Kong residents [were] eligible for British National Overseas (BNO) passports, which allow easy travel but provide no British residency rights" (ibid. July 1997).
A 1995 British Immigration and Nationality Law Handbook provides the following information on British passports, nationality and the right of abode in the United Kingdom (1995, 277):
Since 1983, there have been two changes to the structure set out in the 1981 Act. People from the Falkland Islands, who were classed as British Dependent Territories citizens, were made into full British citizens after the Falklands was under the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983. People from Hong Kong, who are also British Dependent Territories citizens, were given the opportunity to acquire yet another new British status, British National (Overseas), under the Hong Kong Act 1985, to prepare for the return to China in 1997: this status does not carry the right of abode in the UK.
There are now six different groups of people who may hold current British passports: British citizens, British subjects, British Dependent Territories citizens, British Protected Persons, British Overseas citizens, British Nationals (Overseas).
Only the first category, British citizens, have the right of abode in the UK and are not subject to immigration control. Other kinds of British nationals need to fit in to the immigration rules.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Shutter, Sue. 1995. JWCI Immigration & Nationality Law Handbook. London: Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JWCI).
Migration News [Davis, CA]. July 1997. Vol. 4, No. 7. "Hong Kong Reverts to China." [Internet]
_____. October 1995. Vol. 2, No. 10. "Hong Kong Residents Want UK Passports." [Internet]
