Earning British Citizenship?
Two UK government ministers have suggested that immigrants could have the chance to "earn" British citizenship under a points-based system. This comes just four months after the British Chancellor and future Prime Minister, Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, suggested on 27 February 2007 that immigrants should do community work to help them settle before being granted British citizenship. Mr Brown was reported as saying:
"Being a British citizen is about more than a test, more than a ceremony. It's a kind of contract between the citizen and the country involving rights but also involving responsibilities that will protect and enhance the British way of life. It's also right to consider asking men and women seeking citizenship to undertake community work in our country, or something akin to that, that introduces them to a wider range of institutions and people."
Now, Ruth Kelly, the Minister for Communities, and Liam Byrne, Minister for Immigration, have suggested that credit should be given to migrants for doing voluntary work but lost for breaking the law. Given that the Prime Minister in waiting has already expressed the view that the existing citizenship and language tests do not go far enough, these new suggestions appear to be the start of new developments in the policies of the new Government over which Mr Brown will preside.
The latest suggestions on earning British Citizenship by Dr Kelly and Mr Byrne may raise concerns since it appears that the citizenship points system could deduct points for criminal convictions as readily as adding them for ‘good behaviour’. This shows that the specifics of the suggested points-based system would need to be well known before advice can be given, and that injustices may well arise from such a system.
This would add to the concerns raised by Mr Brown’s previous indications about the requirement to do voluntary work to gain citizenship since, as Habib Rahman, the Chair of the UK charity the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), told the BBC:
"Compulsory community service is usually imposed as a non-custodial penalty for a criminal offence. We are therefore extremely concerned that it is now being proposed as a condition of citizenship."
Currently, however, the requirements for British Citizenship have not changed: the suggestions are in relation to a future possibility, not about a change happening now.
What are the current requirements for naturalisation as a British citizen?
Even the requirements of knowledge of language and life in the UK are very recent innovations, having become part of the tests for naturalisation as a British Citizen in November 2005.
The requirements are as follows:
People over 18 who are settled (have Indefinite Leave to Remain, ILR) in the UK can apply to naturalise as British citizens (there are separate provisions to allow children to register as British). People must be “of good character”. In general, this means they must have no criminal convictions, their business and tax affairs must be in order, and they must have a good immigration history. Criminal convictions can be disregarded if they are 'spent': that is, if the person was convicted a sufficiently long time ago for rehabilitation to have taken place. Rehabilitation periods are fixed in UK law and vary depending on the severity of the sentence for each conviction.
People must be 'of sound mind' or 'full capacity', which merely means that a would-be British Citizen must be able to understand that they are becoming British. The Home Office instructions to their staff are as follows:
'All we expect from applicants is that they should be able to grasp, however dimly, the purpose of their application. We should not expect a total understanding of nationality or citizenship'. Nor should we necessarily expect a continuing and sustained level of comprehension.'
However, even this requirement can be waived if this in the applicant's best interests.
The existing tests do not involve community service. Instead they involve knowledge of language and life in the UK. The language people must know is usually English, but can also be Welsh or Scottish Gaelic.
Knowledge of the language and life in the UK is demonstrated by passing a 'Life in the UK' test or by doing an accredited course in English as a second language (ESOL) that includes learning about citizenship and leads to a recognised 'skills for life' qualification. There are very limited circumstances in which people are not required to satisfy these requirements, where it would be unreasonable to require them to do so because of their physical or mental condition.
Applicants for British Citizenship must intend to make the UK their main home or to work in the service of the UK Government abroad. There are rules on how long a person must have lived in the UK and on how many days they can have been absent from the UK in the period leading up to their application for naturalisation as a British Citizen.
The UK Home Office has a discretion to waive some, although not all, requirements in exceptional cases. Consequently, it is important clearly to understand whether you meet the requirements. If you do not, then you may need specialist advice about whether the particular requirement can be waived, or whether it is likely to be waived in your particular circumstances.
It was reported that the Ministers’ new suggested measures on ‘earning’ citizenship were published in a pamphlet for the left-of-centre think tank, the Fabian Society. The pamphlet suggests the establishment of a new ‘Britain day’, with the purpose of doing the following:
• Celebrating civic values, local heritage and opportunities to get involved in local life;
• Holding local "citizenship ceremonies";
• Celebrating and promoting voluntary work in communities;
• Showing a debt of gratitude to war veterans who helped to secure freedoms;
• The Queen's state opening of Parliament speech could be followed by a "State of the Nation" address from the Prime Minister.
Georgina Wilson, Gherson and Co.
