Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, we are grateful to the Government for this amendment, which, as the Minister explained, solves a long-standing anomaly. When we transferred power over Hong Kong to the Chinese, we promised that the citizenship arrangements would leave no one stateless but, in the event, it turned out that certain British nationals (overseas) were stateless. This amendment rectifies that anomaly and so we very much welcome it. It enables BNOs to register under Section 4B of the BNA 1981 where she or he is otherwise stateless. Amendment 43A would put those BNOs who register under Section 4B on an equal footing with those who have already been registered or are eligible to register under the similar provisions of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997. The added words mirror Section 2(1) of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act, which gives a solely BNO who is registered under it the same kind of transmission capacity in relation to British citizenship as they enjoyed when they held British Dependent Territories citizenship before the handover of Hong Kong. When a person is registered under that Act, if he was a Hong Kong BDTC otherwise than by descent, he becomes a British citizen otherwise than by descent and, if he was a Hong Kong BDTC by descent, he becomes a British citizen by descent. The added wording would mean that the British citizenship granted to BNOs under Section 4B of the 1981 Act would be of the same type as they would have been granted had they registered under the 1997 Act. I shall take the opportunity, if I may, of clearing up one misunderstanding that has arisen in Hong Kong, which concerns people of Nepalese origin who can take advantage of this amendment. At one time it was the practice of the Nepalese authorities not to determine a person’s Nepalese citizenship until he reached adulthood. However, in 2005 the Nepalese consulate clarified the policy and issued a note verbale that said that no one who had BNO citizenship could be at the same time a Nepalese citizen. Therefore, nobody had to make the decision when becoming an adult as to which citizenship to opt for. I beg to move.