§ Mr. MarlowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Hong Kong citizens have applied for United Kingdom passports; and how many dependents are estimated to arrive from each application. [10461]
§ Mr. KirkhopeI assume that my hon. Friend is referring to applications for British citizenship made under the British nationality (Hong Kong) selection scheme. As at 26 November 1995, 108,768 principal beneficiary applications had been received. This figure includes invalid, ineligible and withdrawn applications and second applications from some of those unsuccessful in the first tranche of the scheme. So far, 48,376 of these 63W applicants have been registered as British citizens, along with 80,207 dependants. The scheme allows for a maximum of 50,000 principal beneficiaries.