LONDON: The Home Office has finalised a plan based on points-based system to make it almost impossible for uneducated and unskilled immigrants from non-English speaking countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to get British citizenship.
Under the new system all immigrants will be expected to ‘earn’ a British passport by accumulating points for voluntary work, speaking English, paying taxes or having useful skills.
Being willing to live in parts of the country where skills shortages are high is also likely to gain points.
The move to a points-based system — rather than the current near-automatic right to citizenship for anyone who has lived in Britain for five years without a criminal record – is expected to allow the government to raise or lower the hurdles as they choose, depending on economic and political circumstances.
There won’t be an automatic right any longer, and the link between work and citizenship is likely to be effectively broken.
The move will be followed in the autumn by a review of the points-based system for temporary immigrants, which is expected to lead to restrictions on work permits for skilled workers coming from outside the EU to fill job shortages.
According to the Observer, the government’s migration advisory committee has been asked to review the system in the light of the slump and is also considering whether some occupations previously considered having shortages, such as chefs, should be taken off the list.
Keith Best of the Immigration Advisory Service was quoted as saying that it was now clear the government was toughening its stance before a spring election.LINK