Nationality, Abode, Citizenship - BN(O)

While we have only become serious about moving to the UK after The Trip (1, 2 and 3), I had the inclination to have a Plan B - B for Britain - a while ago. During the Chinese New Year, I asked my mum to dig out my good old BN(O) passport, which was issued in 1993 and had expired many years ago. I still have vivid memories of queueing outside the Fanling Government Offices for the application. The BN(O) passport had never been used though. I got my first HKSAR passport in 2000 and have since used that for travelling. I can have no complaint about the HKSAR passport in terms of utility but the national emblem of the Communist China on the cover and the design of the visa pages have been increasingly off-putting.

Before I rediscovered my BN(O) passport I did not quite reckon that I am a British National (Overseas). As a BN(O) I have no right of abode, nor am I a British citizen. In short being a BN(O) I have no right to live in the UK indefinitely. Having said that I was happy to pay Her Majesty's Passport Office a small fee to renew my expired BN(O) passport, and will use that for travelling in the future. As part of the Plan B we should have as many links with the UK as possible. If worse comes to the worst the HKSAR passport is no good, a "mere travel document" like the BN(O) passport would be very useful.

Today I have come across BritishHongKong, which claims to be an organisation registered in Scotland fighting for full British citizenship for all British Nationals (Overseas), see also the coverage by the Hong Kong Economic Journal. It is difficult to see why the people and government of the UK would have any incentive to revisit the BN(O) issues. It may be a cause for celebration if the UK government were to give a few more brownie points to the BN(O) holders when they apply for citizenship.