JAJ

Of interest to Australians in the UK contemplating applying for British citizenship.

On 1 November 2005, a new "Life in the United Kingdom" test will be introduced. Applicants for British citizenship who apply before 1 November will be exempt:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind...tionality.html

Processing times are currently about 4 months for naturalisation and 6 weeks for registrations. Waiting time to attend a citizenship ceremony (if required) is additional.

Home Office figures have shown a strong uptake in the number of grants of British citizenship to Australian citizens in 2004. Figures include grants made to children:

2004: 3045
2003: 795
2001: 615
1999: 899
1996: 838

Equivalent figures for New Zealanders are 1520, 890, 825, 581 and 678.


Jeremy

KatieStar

Will the changes affect babies born to british citizens in Australia

Katie

JAJ

No. It only affects people wanting to become British by naturalisation.


Although if you become naturalised British it means that children born subsequently in Australia will normally automatically be British by descent.



Jeremy

diddy

Out of interest, any idea what the test on life in the UK involves?

Paul.

JAJ

Full details haven't been announced yet (and there will be issues if they're not announced well before 1 November - letters will undoubtedly start landing on MPs desks).

Original drafts of the proposals looked something like this:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind...tizenship.html

One change which will also take place on 1 November is that completion of the test will also serve as proof of English language ability. It will supersede the enhanced English language proof requirements introduced in July 2004.


Jeremy

ozzieeagle

I beleive those increase in figures is the start of a massive trend. My daughter was one of those 3045 in 2004.

I've got 3 other children that I will be getting British passports for. The reason is not just the UK, but "The united states of Europe". I feel I would be a terribly neglectful parent if I didn't give them this ammunition in their life choices. I view this Dual nationality choice as importantly as a university degree.

British born people around me, are looking at what my Daughter is doing with incredible interest.

Do you think JaJ that this choice is going to be taken away in the forseeable future ?

JAJ

She is only one of the 3045 if she was naturalised or registered as a British citizen. If she acquired British citizenship at birth and obtained a British passport, this is not part of the total.

Something to which many (most?) British people are fundamentally opposed. Few British people want to be part of a country called Europe, and quite a few referendums in Continental countries suggest other countries feel the same way (Denmark, Sweden, France, Netherlands).

Access to the United Kingdom is valuable enough in itself, without any European add-ons. In fact there is a reasonable chance that immigration controls will be reimposed on other European nations within 10 years or so.


Why should it be?

But laws on citizenship are always subject to change, and while it generally won't affect those who *already* have citizenship, those who have been eligible to apply and put it off can be caught out.


Jeremy

jwatsonoz

This is interesting... what makes you think this?

ozzieeagle

I misunderstood the people eligible for the British citizenship within that 2004 -3045, Which means there are even more people getting British passports for the first time.

The rest of your points are under political debate, and currently one could call the EEC the US of E, It's notoriously Difficult to change procedures in place.

JAJ

"US of E" implies that the "EEC" is a country. It is not. Although some would like to make it so.



Jeremy

CPW

Every British citizen who has a British passport must have got a British passport for the first time at some point. And as long as lots of British-born people move abroad to live and citizenship by descent is an integral part of the British nationality laws, significant numbers of these first-time passport getters will, inevitably, be people who were born outside the United Kingdom - and I shouldn't imagine that either of these premises is likely to change in the foreseeable future.

JAJ

UKPS figures state that about 10% of the passports they issue (6m in total each year) are 'first time' passport applicants.

I believe about 400,000 or so British passports are issued through British missions overseas, so applying a similar % (which may or may not be the case) would mean about 40,000 first time passports overseas each year.


Jeremy

CPW

One could call it that, but it would be a false name if one were trying, by using it, to liken the EU to the USA, since the structure of the two and their ways of working are so dissimilar.

No one knows what the future may hold for the EU, of course, but one ought not to assume that what has applied in the recent past will necessarily apply in the future.

On the question of immigration control for people from other EU countries: if someone had opined in 1950, for example, that within 25 years or so a typical Italian citizen would find it easier to live and work in the UK than a typical citizen of one of the 'old Commonwealth' countries, that would have seemed risible to many people - but it happened that way. And 25 years is not so very long, particularly if one is thinking about the situations that one's (now young) children might face in the future.