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British Nationality And Hong Kong
British nationality law as it pertains to Hong Kong has been unusual ever since Hong Kong became a British colony in 1842. From its beginning as a sparsely populated trading port to today's cosmopolitan international financial centre and world city of over seven million people, the territory has attracted refugees, immigrants and expatriates alike searching for a new life. Citizenship matters were complicated by the fact that British nationality law treated those born in :Hong Kong as British subjects (although they did not enjoy full rights and citizenship), while the People's Republic of China did not recognise Hong Kongers with Chinese ancestry as British. The main legal rationale for the Chinese position was that recognising these people as British could be seen as tacit acceptance of a series of treaties which China considers " unequal" – including the ones which ceded the Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the land between the Kowloon Peninsula and the Sham ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hong Konger
Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the territory. The earliest inhabitants of Hong Kong are indigenous villagers, who have lived in the area since before British colonization. The majority of Hongkongers today are descended from Han Chinese migrants from mainland China, most of whom are Cantonese and trace their ancestral home to the province of Guangdong. However, the territory also holds other Han Chinese subgroups including the Hakka, Hoklo, Teochew (Chiuchow), Shanghainese, Sichuanese and Taiwanese. Meanwhile, non-Han Chinese Hongkongers such as the British, Filipinos, Indonesians, South Asians and Vietnamese also make up six per cent of Hong Kong's population. Terminology The terms ''Hongkonger'' and ''Hong Kongese'' are used to denote a residents of Hong Kong, inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different meanings depending on context. It is used to designate the monarch in either a personal capacity, as Head of the Commonwealth, or as the king or queen of their realms (whereas the monarchy of the United Kingdom and the monarchy of Canada, for example, are distinct although they are in personal union). It can also refer to the rule of law; however, in common parlance 'The Crown' refers to the functions of government and the civil service. Thus, in the United Kingdom (one of the Commonwealth realms), the government of the United Kingdom can be distinguished from the Crown and the state, in precise usage, although the distinction is not always relevant in broad or casual usage. A corporation sole, the Crown is the legal embodiment of execut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Nationality Act 1981
The British Nationality Act 1981 (c.61) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning British nationality since 1 January 1983. History In the mid-1970s the British Government decided to update the nationality code, which had been significantly amended since the British Nationality Act 1948 came into force on 1 January 1949. In 1977, a Green Paper was produced by the Labour government outlining options for reform of the nationality code. This was followed in 1980 by a White Paper by the Conservative government that closely followed the Labour proposals. William Whitelaw, the Home Secretary under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was the chief author. The ''British Nationality Act 1981'' received Royal Assent on 30 October 1981 and came into force on 1 January 1983. Both major parties were in agreement on the new law. Subsequently, the British Nationality Act has been significantly amended, including: * British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983 * Hong K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sino-British Joint Declaration
The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after 1 July 1997. Hong Kong had been a colony of the British Empire since 1842 after the First Opium War and its territory was expanded on two occasions; first in 1860 with the addition of Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island, and again in 1898 when Britain obtained a 99-year lease for the New Territories. The date of the handover in 1997 marked the end of this lease. The Chinese government declared in the treaty its basic policies for governing Hong Kong after the transfer. A special administrative region would be established in the territory that would be self-governing with a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign affairs and defence. Hong Kong would maintain its existing governing and economic systems separate from that of main ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Right Of Abode
The right of abode is an individual's freedom from immigration control in a particular country. A person who has the right of abode in a country does not need permission from the government to enter the country and can live and work there without restriction, and is immune from removal and deportation (unless the right of abode has been revoked). Generally, in order to have the right of abode in a certain country, a person must be a citizen of that country. However, some countries grant the right of abode for qualified non-citizens. This is distinct with the commonly-called ''right to land'', ''right to live'' or ''right of residence'', e.g. with permanent residency of the country generally have a ''de facto'' right of residence, but it can be revoked in certain circumstances (unlike a citizenship which can only be revoked in very limited circumstances such as fraud or national security concern), for example for being convicted of crimes, or in some countries, prolonged absence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Immigration Act 1971
The Immigration Act 1971c 77 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning immigration and nearly entirely remaking the field of British immigration law. The Act, as with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, and that of 1968, restricts immigration, especially primary immigration into the UK. It introduced the concept of ''patriality or right of abode''. It was also partly passed to legally clarify the rights of Commonwealth citizens within the United Kingdom in preparation for membership of the European Communities (EC) in which the United Kingdom would become a member state from 1 January 1973. It was coincidentally the same day which the Act came into full legal force which gave not only new automatic rights to EC member state citizens but would also give them priority over non-EC citizens (including overseas Commonwealth citizens) under the obligations of the Treaty of Rome, of which the UK become a signatory though the Treaty of Accession, signed on 22 Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 (c. 9) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act The Act amended the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, further reducing rights of citizens of the Commonwealth of Nations countries (as of 2010, comprising approximately 1.9 billion people) to migrate to the UK. The Act barred the future right of entry previously enjoyed by Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies, to those born there or who had at least one parent or grandparent born there. Impact It was introduced amid concerns that up to 200,000 Kenyan Asians, fleeing that country's "Africanization" policy, would take up their right to reside in the UK. The bill went through parliament in three days, supported by the leadership of both the governing Labour and main opposition Conservative parties, though opposed by some Labour backbenchers, a few Conservatives such as Iain Macleod and Michael Heseltine, and the small parliamentary Liberal Party.Hansen, R. (1999). The K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act entailed stringent restrictions on the entry of Commonwealth citizens into the United Kingdom. Only those with work permits (which were typically only for high-skilled workers, such as doctors) were permitted entry. Background Before the Act was passed, citizens of Commonwealth countries had extensive rights to migrate to the UK. For instance, in the sparsely populated frontier area of San Tin in Hong Kong, 85–90 percent of the able-bodied males left for the United Kingdom between 1955 and 1962 to work in British factories, foundries, railways, buses, hotels, and restaurants. There was widespread opposition to mass migration in Britain from a variety of political groups, including the Conservative Monday Club, whose Members of Parliament were very active and vocal in their opposition thereto. In response to a perceived heavy influx of immigrants, the Conservative Party government t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Citizen
A Commonwealth citizen is a citizen or qualified national of a Commonwealth of Nations member state. Most member countries do not treat citizens of other Commonwealth states any differently from foreign nationals, but some grant limited citizenship rights to resident Commonwealth citizens. In 16 member states, resident non-local Commonwealth citizens are eligible to vote in elections. The status is most significant in the United Kingdom, and carries few or no privileges in many other Commonwealth countries. Background Commonwealth citizenship was created out of a gradual transition from an earlier form of British nationality. Before 1949, all citizens of the British Empire were British subjects and owed allegiance to the Crown.. Although the Dominions (Australia, Canada, Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa) created their own nationality laws following the First World War, they mutually maintained British subjecthood as a common nationality with the United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citizen Of The United Kingdom And Colonies
The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates and protected states). Between 1949 and 1983, the term was synonymous with Commonwealth citizen. Currently, it refers to people possessing a class of British nationality largely granted under limited circumstances to those connected with Ireland or British India born before 1949. Individuals with this nationality are British nationals and Commonwealth citizens, but not British citizens. The status under the current definition does not automatically grant the holder right of abode in the United Kingdom but most British subjects do have this entitlement. About 32,400 British subjects hold active British passports with this status and enjoy consular protection when travelling abroad; fewer than 800 do not have right of abode in the UK. Natio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations amongst member states. Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, and formalised by the United Kingdom through the Statute of Westminster in 1931. The current Commonwealth of Nations was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which modernised the comm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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