the british handed-over sovereignty of hong kong back to china on 1 july 1997.
when did the british hand-over sovereignty of hong kong back to china?
1 july 1997
the british national (overseas) status was created in 1985 in anticipation of the transfer of sovereignty of hong kong on 1 july 1997. this nationality was "tailor-made" for british hong kong residents with british dependent territories citizen (bdtc) status by virtue of their connection with hong kong; it allowed the people of british hong kong to retain a relationship with the united kingdom after the transfer of sovereignty of hong kong to china. bn(o)s enjoy consular protection as british nationals would when travelling outside hong kong. however, since most bn(o)s also hold chinese nationality, they do not enjoy consular protection in china, hong kong and macau, owing to the master nationality rule. from 1 july 1987 to 30 june 1997, nearly 3.4 million of british dependent territories citizens in hong kong successfully registered as a british national (overseas). all bdtcs relate only to hong kong lost their bdtc status on 1 july 1997, and any bdtc who did not register as a bn(o) and without other nationality automatically acquired british overseas citizenship.
visa requirements for british nationals (overseas)
immediately after the handover of hong kong back to chinese rule, hong kong's legislative council passed an amendment to the basic law that would restrict immigration to children born outside of hong kong that were born to hong kong residents. the constitutionality of this amendment came to be challenged in court, and in january 1999, the court of final appeal ruled against the amendment. this ruling immediately granted up to 300,000 people in mainland china the right of abode in hong kong, and it was estimated that within the next ten years, about 1.6 million people in mainland china would become eligible for right of abode in hong kong.
new immigrants in hong kong