Up to 24 staff working at the British consulate in Hong Kong will be made redundant when all passport operations move back to Britain in a revamp of how passports are handled.
They are among 166 people working in the seven regional passport processing centres around the world, who are likely to lose their jobs when the centres close.
No date for the redundancies has been announced, but Britain's Identity & Passport Service is aiming to have all applications handled in Britain by 2014.
Jo McPhail, head of the overseas passport management unit at Britain's Foreign Office, said: 'The centres will close and most will lose their jobs. Almost all are locally employed staff.'
During a visit to Hong Kong last week, she said people were fully aware they would face the sack. 'We have been honest with them,' McPhail said, adding people would be 'treated fairly' and helped with future employment.
Those affected are involved in checking and verifying applications for new and replacement passports and sending documents to Britain.