Squirrel

Somebody just told me that the UK is going to do away with ILR next year, and that people will be forced to get UK citizenship if they don't want to remain on a temporary visa. He didn't give me any links, has anyone else heard this? It won't affect my husband as he already has ILR but I am concerned that it will affect other foreign spouses. Anyone know anything else?

Fleaflyfloflum

No!! My OH will be applying in the next few weeks so hopefully we will be ok.
I have not heard this before.
I will ask my daughter in London if she has heard anything up there.

Celtic Princess

I haven't heard anything but it sounds untrue to me. I can't imagine the authorities putting people in a position whereby they have no choice as to whether to become citizens or not. But then again........?

Dave_Was

This is a proposal that is being put through at the moment and that if it does come into force it will be in late 2009.

My understanding is that there will be a form of probationary citizenship and if you perform community service, charity work to show that you are integrating into UK society it will allow you to apply sooner than if you don't.

I can't remember the proposals fully, but it has been discussed extensively on the immigration forums.

For my wife and I it doesn't matter I suppose, as if we move to the UK now we wouldn't qualify for ILR till 2010, or if we wait for four years of marriage outside of the UK it would be late 2010 again. So if the proposal gets pushed through we miss it on both counts.

Squirrel

Thanks Dave. Do you have any links please?

What do they propose for people whose home country does not allow dual citizenship?

Dave_Was

Hello Squirrel,

I haven't really kept up to date with this, as my wife and I will have to deal with whatever procedures they put in place.

My understanding was that there are three steps now

temporary residency -> probationary citizenship -> citzenship/perm residency.

I think that the idea is you've worked so hard to get to this stage go for citizenship but I think that the permanent residency is still a choice at that stage.

The link that I had bookmarked from a while back and still has a lot of the information is here. I think most of the information is in the pdfs at the bottom and the executive summaries give the highlights.

Hope that helps.

dewdrop

We haven't even applied yet for my husbands' visa...hmmm? i wonder how it will affect all of us when the time comes.
Lets hope it will make things easier!

Scout

This is the first I've heard of this. I can apply for ILR anytime now.....but if I could skip that and go straight to citizenshp that would be fine with me.

I have a sneaky suspicion this will wind up costing me even more than it already has.

Tr1boy

That's a worry. We qualify for the 4yr marriage thing in Nov 09, and can't go before then as my wife won't finish her degree before then (in theory we could apply 3mths before as I think you have 3mths to travel?)

Dave_Was

My reading of the new proposals is that probationary citizenship is a must. If my wife was in a position to get ILR and keep ILR, I would be applying for her's tomorrow.

Dave_Was

You might just sneak it. It might be wise to get everything together for your application, so you have it ready.

Unfortunately my wife and I don't hit 4 years till late 2010, so we'll have to go under the new system no matter what when we return.

Thankfully she doesn't read these boards, otherwise she'd be telling me it was my fault as she wanted to get married in 2004.

Squirrel

I found all about it on the bia/Home Office website. Will try and post links tomorrow.

Basically, it is a proposal at the moment, and peoples' opinions were canvassed on the idea of having (based on marriage - terms are different for the work visa route) temporary residence then after 2 years probationary citizenship, then after 1 year full citizenship OR after 3 years permanent residence. ie 3 years to citizenship as at present, or 5 years to PR, an increase of 3 years. Which seems quite weird as it sounds like you have to 'opt out' of applying for citizenship rather than opting in as at present. They even had the cheek to canvass opinions on whether permanent residence rather than citizenship should even be an option, even though quite a lot of countries don't allow dual. Other stupid ideas include giving faster citizenship to people who volunteer or whatever which they call 'active citizenship.'

In a nutshell, the proposals didn't go down too well, lots of people said this 'simplification' actually makes it more complicated than the current arrangement (no duh, like adding an extra step is simplification?). It's just so dumb to have to have 'probationary citizenship' if you have no intention to apply for citizenship. Lots of people also said that it was unfair to expect immigrants to do voluntary work when most Brits don't do so, also, having to contribute financially (working/paying taxes) was one mandatory thing suggested, and as was commented by quite a few, how are immigrants supposed to work, volunteer and still spend time with their families?

I really hope, given the cool reception to these proposals, that they decide not to go ahead. I mean, how much is it going to cost, how much has it cost so far? I bet they will go through with it though, as this government a) never cared what people think and b) loves making changes for changes' sake.

The whole thing actually makes me angry. Some commented that they believed the whole thing was just designed to put immigrants off. The fact is, they can't do anything to reduce EU immigration and can't refuse to accept asylum seeks, so they go after the group of immigrants who actually place the least burden on society and want to work and contribute. They even had the cheek to propose an extra charge on top of the visa fees to go towards a fund for the 'extra strain' immigrants place on resources.

My husband is an American who has always worked and paid taxes, never claimed a penny in benefits, speaks perfect English but simply doesn't want to become British because it would make him feel less American. He only lives here because I want to live here, not by choice. Yet he's supposed to feel bad because he doesn't want citizenship, supposed to pay towards all those resources he's using (he lives in the flat I bought and we have had no kids so we probably use less resources than the average Brit family).

I really feel for those who come after us in the immigration minefield.

Tr1boy

must not type,,,,anything, .....hard to resist


(just kidding )

finks

Hi Squirrel
I agree with your post.
Why make it even more complicated than it already is.I have just got the settlement visa sorted and now this new proposal
My hubbie is the same he is a NZ er and has said he does not want to get his UK citizenship even when the times comes that he can.
But if the time comes that they get rid of the ILR then he will have to if we wish to stay in the UK.
It will cause alot of issues for spouses that cannot have dual nationality,as a Kiwi he can so we are lucky.Imagine having your hands tied like that.
It may affect us too as we are not looking at arriving until early 2009 but as we have been married 4 years overseas he apply as soon as he wishes for ILR.So i guess will have to see when the time comes,it may be worth applying asap for his ILR.

JAJ

"Probationary citizenship" is not citizenship at all, but merely a form of temporary resident status.

The problems will arise when other countries start refusing to accept back their citizens whom Britain tries to deport, but as of now this lunatic government cannot see the stupidity inherent in this misuse of the term "citizenship".