Information for Those of Indian Ethnic Origin
Information for those of Indian ethnic origin
Clarification of Indian nationality law has been provided from The Ministry of Home Affairs of the Indian authorities in New Delhi. The effect of this clarification is that a number of individuals previously thought to be dual Indian/British (and so ineligible for registration under the 1997 Act) are in fact solely British. There has been no change in the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997.
If you previously made an application and that application was refused on the basis that you held Indian citizenship, we are able to reconsider your application at no extra cost.
If you fall into this category please write to us giving your:
- name (If your name has changed since your application please let us know the name under which you originally applied.)
- date of birth
- place of birth
- a copy of your refusal letter (if possible, as this will help us locate your original file).
Please send your letter to:
Consular Section
British Consulate-General
1 Supreme Court Road
Admiralty
Hong Kong
If you prefer, this letter can be faxed to us on (852) 2901 3204.
Please do NOT attend the British Consulate-General, as you cannot submit these letters in person. On receipt of your letter we will forward it to the Home Office and your original application will be reassessed automatically. We will acknowledge receipt of your letter and contact you, in due course, once the Home Office reassessment is complete.
The Home Office are allocating extra resources as of April 2006 to process these reassessments and the average time for this process should be five weeks (excluding the time the certificates and letters will take to be returned to the Consulate-General from the Home Office by diplomatic bag). We will contact those concerned as soon as we receive the results from the Home Office.
If a child born on or after 3 December 2004 has one parent of Indian ethnic origin who is solely British and the other parent is an Indian passport holder, the child may qualify for a British Overseas Citizen (BOC) passport. If the birth has not been registered with the Indian authorities in the first year, the child may also qualify to register as a British citizen, but a letter from the Indian authorities confirming the child has not been registered with them as an Indian national will be needed. If the child’s birth is registered with the Indian authorities within the first year, the child’s British Overseas Citizenship will not be affected but as a dual national, the child would not qualify for registration as a British citizen under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997.