by Will Whitecastle
An often overlooked factor in the impact of immigration is the granting of British Citizenship to immigrants. Surprisingly this topic seems not to come up often in mass media or political debate, but it is an important factor when we consider the impact of mass-immigration. Let’s take a look at what ‘British Citizenship’ means.
“Citizenship” is the process of becoming a legal citizen of Britain. Citizenship matters because once an immigrant becomes a British Citizen, they are subjected to the same laws and privileges as a British native. There are number of benefits of becoming ‘British’ [1] which encourages people to apply, including:
The right to live permanently in the UK
Free medical care on the NHS
No work restrictions e.g. access to Government jobs and unemployment benefit
British Passport and no immigration restrictions
The right to vote
The right to stand for office e.g. in Civil Service or even as a Politician or Councillor
From 2006 to 2016, the sum total of people granted British Citizenship was 1,820,598 people. In other words almost two million immigrants became ‘British’ over 10 years. This is the equivalent of four times the population of Liverpool [2]. To understand this on a yearly level, 149,421 people were granted British Citizenship in 2016 alone [4]. This is more in one year than all the people living in Oxford. Basically we created a new city from immigrants with the right to live here permanently, in just one year alone.
Each person who wishes to apply for Citizenship must satisfy a list of requirements [3]. These include, and are not limited to, having lived in the UK for 5 years or/and not broken any immigration laws whilst in the UK. The point here, is that you can’t just arrive and apply, but must find a way to live here for 5 years. This may sound difficult but there are loop holes.
For example, once someone has been granted British Citizenship they can encourage their relatives to visit other EU countries. Their relative moves to an EU country and after 3 months their relatives are then free to roam into the UK under EU legislation. Thus, whilst the UK recognises EU legislation, relatives of immigrants can get into the UK in three months whilst bypassing stricter UK immigration regulations [5]. Once in the UK, it is a matter of remaining here for 5 years then applying for British Citizenship themselves. It all comes down to legislation, which can be influenced by political parties and this is why we should be thinking about it.
Given the above information, one might argue that restricting British Citizenships is equally important political objective as stopping mass-immigration. It seems few politicians have taken an explicit stance on reducing British Citizenship, however taking a stance on Citizenship has some political benefits. For example, the argument against mass-immigration is lost in unhelpful debate about prejudice, economical benefits of immigrants and so on. We don’t need to repeat this debate endlessly, we know the benefits we envision for Britain.
As we have seen in the previous articles, the economical benefits of immigration are a fallacy and so it may not be the best use of our time to engage in debate about economics when we simply want to control immigration. If we shift our focus to include the approach of reducing British Citizenship, then the liberal counter arguments to mass-immigration are weakened, it is no longer a question of where these immigrants are from or what they might contribute, but of the Government defined process of Citizenship and the complications which come with it. It can, for us, be a question of simply reducing the number of grants for British Citizenship. It is a question of controlling the numbers. Limiting the granting of British Citizenship is a common sense benefit, one which we can continue to pursue as a political party which cares about Britain.
References:
[1] http://ukcitizenshipsupport.com/british-citizenship-info/british-citizenship-benefits/
[2] http://www.citymayors.com/gratis/uk_topcities.html
[3] https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen
[4] https://data.gov.uk/dataset/immigration-statistics-citizeship (see downloads)
[5] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23029195
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So any immigrant entering the EU is free to come to the UK after they have been resident in the EU for 3 months! – Then all they have to do is remain here for 5 years, after which they can apply for British citizenship.
There are more holes in our immigration regulations than in my fishing net!!!
Hi Daz
Quite right! Good analogy! Basically once one immigrant is legal, they can invite their family. Here is the link to the EU law in plane English explaining how someone’s dependents can come to the EU, apply for a residence card, which then allows them to live in the EU for 5 years. After 5 years we know they can apply for permanent citizenship.
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/residence/documents-formalities/non-eu-family-members-residence-card/index_en.htm
Thanks Will, great article and lovely to see the ‘Blue British Passport’ without mention of the European Union’ on it.
Having just read various COMMENTS from jjm , Will , Daz and others , yet again I was struck by the HIGH STANDARD of Truth , common sense and Decent Patriotism that OUR PEOPLE represent in a Britain dominated by downright Multi Cultural PROPAGANDA !
First class writing here. It’s very alarming when you realise that even people who are not British citizens, can cost the NHS hundreds of millions as “health tourists” including the Nigerian woman who has broken the record, previously held by someone from the same country, for the largest ever amount extorted from the unfortunate British taxpayer. What then, does this implicate, concerning the expense of those who have so easily gained citizenship to the UK. Just imagine the astronomical sums being routinely drained from the NHS, and all other services, which never even make the papers ! All because, technically, they are now all Citizens of the United Kingdom !