New Delhi: Migrants seeking UK citizenship will now be required to stay in the country for at least 10 years apart from new English language requirements. The Labour government’s new visa rules are aimed at scuttling the reliance of foreign workers in the country. This would now make it difficult for migrants to obtain UK permanent resident more complicated.
Earlier, the residency requirement to apply for citizenship was five years. However, the five year rule will continue for those making a high level contribution in the nation’s economy.
Meanwhile, the new English language requirement rule will also be applicable to the dependents of the adult applying citizenship.
The new rules will be released by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday. The PM’s announcement on the new rules will come before the presentation of Immigration White Paper in Parliament, aimed at bringing down the immigration to the country.
The PM in a statement on Sunday said that the citizenship in the UK will be a privilege and not a right, a clear break from the past.
“And when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language,” PM Starmer said in a statement.
The British PM also said the immigration system from work to family to study will be tightened so that the government has more control on them.
The Immigration White Paper by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper comes in the backdrop of increased immigration in the country which rose to nearly one million in June 2023. However, it fell to 728,000 in mid-June 2024.
Amid rise in migration in UK, the Starmer government is under pressure to scuttle both legal and illegal immigration to Britain. This comes amid rise in the popularity of far-right leader Nigel Farage’s UK Reform party in the new polls.
