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 Kong Act 1985 and Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986 British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990, which introduced the British Nationality Selection Scheme Hong Kong (War Wives and Widows) Act 1996 British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 Adoption (Intercountry Aspects) Act 1999 British Overseas Territories Act 2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 Objectives of the Act Reclassification of United Kingdom and Colonies citizenship The Act reclassified Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC) into three categories: British citizenship British Dependent Territories citizenship (BDTC); and British Overseas citizenship. In 1968, with the passage of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 to modify the wording of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, some CUKCs were stripped of the Right of Abode in the United Kingdom without their consents. The Act sought to restore once again the link between citizenship and right of abode by providing that British citizenship—held by those with a close connection with either the United Kingdom or with the Crown Dependencies (that is to say, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), or both—would automatically carry a right of abode in the UK. The other categories of British nationality would not hold such status based on nationality, although in some cases would do so under the immigration laws. Whilst in opposition in 1977, the Conservative Party asked Edward Gardner to chair a study group to provide advice on changes to the nationality laws.