Home UK Immigration It shouldn’t be so hard for EU citizens to become British

It shouldn’t be so hard for EU citizens to become British

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Author: Kim Vowden

The Windrush scandal has prompted the government to offer free British citizenship to Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK before 1973. That was the right thing to do. But it doesn’t go nearly far enough.

If the government isn’t careful EU citizens living in the UK and their children will be part of another Home Office scandal, on a much bigger scale than Windrush.

The government should be encouraging EU citizens to become British. This would guarantee their right to live in the UK – and give them the ability to vote in general elections – regardless of Brexit.

Over the last few years becoming a British citizen has become incredibly expensive. Applying for naturalisation now costs £1,330. A lot of people can’t afford it. Not everyone wants to become British but more people might consider it if the government cut the naturalisation fee to the amount it actually costs to process the application: £372.

EU citizens face an extra barrier when they apply for naturalisation. Because they don’t get their passport stamped when they enter the UK the Home Office routinely asks them to provide “alternative evidence” of their residence over the five-year qualifying period for naturalisation (three years if they’re married to a British citizen).

This makes no sense. Since November 2015 any EU citizen applying for naturalisation has to obtain a permanent residence document first, and to get a permanent residence document they have to satisfy the Home Office that they have been exercising a right of residence in the UK for a five-year period. When they apply for naturalisation the Home Office asks for similar evidence all over again, and it often refuses applications on the grounds that the evidence isn’t quite what it was after.

Other nationals – US citizens for instance – aren’t asked for evidence of residence in the UK when they apply for naturalisation, even though a collection of entry stamps in a passport doesn’t tell you anything about how much time they have spent in the UK. The UK abolished exit stamps many years ago.

The Home Office collects entry and exit information from airlines so it already has details of our comings and goings. That information together with the evidence provided with the previous permanent residence application should be enough.

The Home Office may not intend to discriminate against EU citizens. It could be inertia – a hangover from the time before a permanent residence document was required for naturalisation. Whatever the reason, nobody at the top of the Home Office has bothered to revise the policy or explain why it’s needed.

Helping EU citizens and other permanent residents to become British is not just good for them. It will help to reduce the divisions in this country which have become so evident since the Brexit referendum. If more EU citizens become dual nationals the lines between who is and isn’t a foreigner will become blurred, which could help to reduce xenophobia. And the Home Office will still cover its costs while being able to point to a reduction in the number of foreign nationals living in the UK. Everyone wins.

 Source:https://infacts.org/it-shouldnt-be-so-hard-for-eu-citizens-to-become-british/

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