Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
the Parliamentary Relations and Devolution Team, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office
Thank you for your letter of 13 September 2006.
[1]Within
the Foreign Office, the Commission proposal to revise the EU Common
Visa List and the associated Explanatory Memorandum has been considered
by the Passports & Documentary Services Group of Consular
Directorate, Overseas Territories Department and the Far Eastern
Group. The views of all of these parties are reflected in what
follows.
In terms of British Nationals Overseas (BNOs),
the FCO has been lobbying the Commission for visa free access
to the Schengen area for this group (of whom there are roughly
3.5 million in Hong Kong) for some time, and so welcomes the Commission
proposal. The proposal also introduces a visa exemption for nationals
of several Commonwealth countries (Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas,
Barbados, Mauritius, St Kitts and St Nevis and the Seychelles)
which currently require visas to enter the Schengen area. This
brings the Common Visa List in line with the UK's own visa requirements,
and is also to be welcomed.
However, the FCO has significant concerns when
it comes to British Overseas Territories Citizens (BOTCs), who
will be required to obtain visas to enter the Schengen area. These
concerns regarding BOTC passport holders were communicated to
the Home Office at the time of their original consultation on
the Explanatory Memorandum which was when Overseas Territories
Department first became aware of the proposal.
BOTCs are not a homogeneous group. Gibraltar
citizens for example have been recognised as UK Nationals for
EU purposes since 1 January 1983 when the BNA 1981 came into effect;
a separate Act gave British citizenship to Falkland Islanders
in 1983; and the 2002 British Overseas Territories Act allowed
most of the other BOTCs to acquire British Citizenship. Those
originating from the sovereign base areas of Cyprus do not have
the same avenues to British citizenship that other BOTCs do. Most
of the citizens of the British Overseas Territories can have either
a BOTC passport and, or a British Citizen Passport.
Many of the citizens of the Overseas Territories
who can have a British Citizen passport choose to travel on a
BOTC passport. The introduction of a visa requirement for them
to travel to any country in the Schengen area would have an impact.
The extent of that would vary from territory to territory. For
example, many BOTCs from Anguilla have family and business connections
with the neighbouring French territory of St Martin, which is
in the Schengen area. Many Anguillians are frequent visitors to
the St Martin, which is only a 30-minute ferry trip away. If BOTC
passport holders from Anguilla had to obtain a Schengen visa they
would have to go to an Embassy in the southern part of the Caribbean
or mainland USA. In Pitcairn virtually the only way to get to
and from the island is through French Polynesia. Although French
Polynesia is not part of Schengen their immigration issues are
a French responsibility. It is the view of the French Embassy
in Wellington that a Pitcairn BOTC passport holder would need
a visa to travel to French Polynesia. But to get a visa the person
would have to transit French Polynesia. Although there are only
about 50 people living on Pitcairn there would be real practical
problems for them,
The Commission's consultation document states:
As regards BOTC who have not become British citizens
... these categories of people have what can only be regarded
as tenuous links with the United Kingdom as they have no right
of abode and are subject to immigration controls ... There is
also considerable uncertainty as to possible links to other States
and the exact nature of such links. The Commission accordingly
concludes that these categories should be subject to the visa
requirements as there is a risk of illegal immigration.
The Commission appears to have a misunderstanding
as to BOTC status and it is implied that persons holding BOTC
passports constitute a risk to staying in the Schengen area illegally.
If someone holds BOTC status through descent or because of birth
in a territory, then they are automatically British Citizens and
need only apply for a full British passport. BOTC status holders
through naturalisation only need to register as British Citizens.
In view of the clear misunderstanding of the
Commission on the status of BOTCs we believe a better solution
would be to extend the visa exemption status to BOTC passports.
(Gibraltar in any case is a member of the EU and it will be essential
to ensure that their special circumstances are taken into account.)
The FCO also has concerns about exempting holders
of all forms of British passports from visa requirements under
the EU Common Visa List because not all British passports offer
returnability. BN(O) passports clearly state a returnability to
Hong Kong and BOTC passport holders also have returnability to
which ever territory they belong. And, as noted above, BOTCs can
be automatically registered as British citizens, which would give
them the right of abode in the United Kingdom.
However, British Overseas Citizens (BOCs), certain
categories of British Subjects—primarily those who have
a connection with India and Pakistan and not those who have a
connection with Southern Ireland and British Protected Persons
(BPPs), do not have automatic returnability to their country of
residence, They are also currently subject to control for their
entry into the United Kingdom Clearly, if we have concerns about
their entry into the United Kingdom and therefore insist on the
issue of entry clearances (visas), we cannot expect our EU colleagues
to waive this requirement for entry of these type of passport
holders into their respective countries.
We are also anxious to ensure that BNOs receive
the same parity of visa exemption to Schengen countries as Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region passport holders do. We would
not want the BNO visa-free access to the Schengen group of countries
to be stalled because of a small group of British passport holders
whose connection with the UK is tenuous and whose travel document
has been issued partly due to the restrictive nature of other
countries' nationality/citizenship laws.
I hope this provides you with some clarity.
Chris Stanton
Parliamentary Relations & Devolution Team
4 October 2006
1 Foreign Affairs Committee, Miscellaneous Matters,
HC501 (2006-07), Ev 36. Back
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