The general public will recall that the Ministry of Border Control and Labour temporarily suspended the receipt and processing of all new applications for Permanent Resident Certificates on February 26, 2010. The Ministry is pleased to confirm that through the dedication and hard work of staff in the PRC Unit, the backlog has been cleared however, the suspension is likely to remain in effect until after the public consultation on the pathway to citizenship has concluded and new legislation for granting Permanent Resident Certificates is enacted.
In August last year the Consultative Forum was advised of the existence of a backlog of over 1600 outstanding applications for British Overseas Territory Citizenship by naturalisation or registration which had built up through other stages in the process over a long period of time. It is important that these applications be processed therefore, the case working team in the PRC Unit will now devote their full attention to processing them.
In light of the above, notice is hereby given that naturalisation and registration applications that are received on or after Monday, February 13, 2012 will not be assessed until after cases that have been pending for many years are cleared. Potential applicants are accordingly encouraged not to apply until further announcements are made about the lifting of the suspension. Applications received after Monday, February 13, 2012 will not be catalogued.
The Ministry of Border Control and Labour will provide further updates on timing for consideration of cases in due course.
