New migrants to Britain face 'points test for citizenship'

• Woolas puts forward passport plans
• 'Active disregard for UK values' to be penalised

New migrants willing to canvass for Labour or another political party could get a British passport within a year under citizenship proposals announced today by the immigration minister, Phil Woolas.

They also face being sent on compulsory "orientation days" where they will be taught British values, social norms and customs – and be charged for the privilege.

A Home Office consultation paper, Earning the Right to Stay in Britain, proposes a new "points test for citizenship" and confirms that ministers are looking at ways of penalising those who demonstrate "an active disregard for UK values" when they apply for a British passport.

The Home Office refused to specify what might be covered by the phrase "active disregard". Woolas said migrants would be expected to show their commitment to Britain. He declined to discuss refusing passports to those who protest at army homecoming parades, a policy idea attributed to Home Office sources over the weekend.

The new system will apply to the 159,000 legal migrants a year who apply for UK citizenship and will come into effect in 2011. It currently takes between three and five years of lawful residence to qualify for a British passport.

There will be a new category of "probation citizen" and the process will take between 12 months and 10 years, depending on points earned by the applicant.

Points will be allocated for English language ability, earnings potential, qualifications, shortage skills, volunteering, special artistic or scientific merit, and residence in parts of the UK experiencing population decline, such as Scotland. Although the Home Office gave some indicative examples of the points structure, it refrained from saying what the qualifying threshold might be. The government said it wanted to consult on the economic need for new citizens before announcing a figure.

Probationary citizens are to be given temporary residence for five years. They can accelerate or delay the process of becoming full citizens depending upon the pace of their integration into British life. The Home Office paper says a central pillar of this approach will be active citizenship. Those who take part in voluntary work such as becoming a school governor, or "contributing to the democratic life of the nation" through trade union activities, or by actively campaigning and canvassing for a political party, could get their citizenship within 12 months rather than the expected average of three years.

Voluntary organisations have protested that such voluntary work could be seen as compulsory in these circumstances. Concerns have also been voiced about the possible abuse of offering a passport in return for political canvassing.

This carrot and stick approach to earned citizenship will not cover the majority of new migrants who apply for a British passport each year. In 2008 more than 50% of those granted citizenship were either spouses or children of a British citizen. They will not be covered by the new system but are to face a tougher English language test before they can get a visa to travel to the UK. They will also face a two-stage test of their knowledge of Britain. The initial "life in the UK" test will remain but a more challenging test on British politics and history is to be introduced later in the process. Migrants who have refugee status will automatically qualify as probation citizens.

Local authorities are to have a greater role in integrating migrants, including verifying the points accumulated by each applicant. They will also offer orientation days on British values and customs on top of the existing citizenship ceremonies.

The Home Office suggests these could be voluntary or compulsory, and that completing a course could contribute to the points total, but the cost will have to be paid by the migrant. A citizenship application this year costs £720, including £80 for a ceremony. The money is non-refundable in the event of refusal. More than 9,000 refusals were made last year, nearly a third owing to failing the "good character test" – mostly because of a criminal record. Only 610 were turned down because of lack of knowledge of English or of life in the UK.

Woolas said earned citizenship would give the government more control over the numbers of people permitted to settle in Britain permanently, with the bar raised or lowered according to need.

The Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, said the proposal only dealt with legal migration. "The government still has no idea how to deal with the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants living here," he said.

Bron: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/03/immigration-minister-phil-woolas