UK immigration shake-up

August 03 2009 by Rebekah Nahai

Tougher UK immigration rules

New UK immigration rules will monitor the level of UK patriotism shown by applicants for permanent residency.

The UK Border Agency has unveiled a plan to update the points-based immigration criteria for citizenship applications, making it harder to qualify.

The Home Office considers the current points-based system for permanent residency too lenient. Migrants who work legally in the UK for five years are granted citizenship without much difficulty.

Immigration minister Phil Woolas said that immigrants will now have to “earn” the right to live permanently in the UK. The move is intended to “break the link between temporary migration and permanent citizenship”.

Applicants will be judged on criteria including English language ability and demonstrations of commitment to the UK. Immigrants who participate in anti-war demonstrations or other socially deviant activities may jeopardise their chances of obtaining a UK passport.

When questioned about this on BBC Radio 4 Today, Woolas said: “We think it's right to say if we are asking the new citizen, as incidentally other countries around the world do, to have an oath of allegiance to that country, that it's right to try to define in some objective terms what that means. And clearly an acceptance of the democratic rule of law and the principle behind that we think is important and we think it's fair to ask that.”

Woolas acknowledged that while protesting is not illegal, tougher criteria for ‘good’ and ‘bad’ behaviour should apply to immigrants while they prove their fitness for UK citizenship.

Critics say the new regulations are simply a desperate measure to control UK immigration by a government that has issued a UK passport every five minutes in recent years.

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