Summary on Immigration Law
The law linked to nationality and citizenship creates the framework to immigration law as an individual has the authority to settle in a country of their specific choice and this relies on the individual’s nationality. It is right that within the UK law, a British national has the power to stay in the country.
The law for British nationality and citizenship has been reformed a various amount of times in the last 100 years. In 1983, the British Nationality Act 1981 (BNA 1981) was put into practice. Therefore, this formed the nationality of British Citizenship.
If an individual is born in the UK before 1983, they are a British national.
An individual who was born outside the UK before 1983 and has a father that was born in the UK, could easily become a British citizen as their father could progress their citizenship to their child.
There are some problems when considering the law: one of the problems is that an individual’s citizenship could reform within some time.
Post 1982, if an individual is born outside the UK, they are considered British as one of their parents was naturalised as a citizen of the UK.
A mother was allowed to pass on her citizenship obtained through her birth or naturalisation to her child prior 1983. Although, in some situations, the Home Office gave permission for the child to be naturalised as a citizen of the UK.
Naturalisation is a process that a foreign national who is currently living in Britain goes through to become a citizen of the UK. If the individual who is applying for naturalisation is married or is in a civil relationship, they should have been living legally in Britain for at least three years, should have an understanding of the English Language as well as life in the UK. Moreover, the applicant will have to pass a test which is known as the ‘Life in the UK Test’. The applicant will also have to attend a course by going to college. The course is known as ‘Citizenship Materials for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Learners’.
The Life in the UK Test is a formal test which considers the applicant to answer 24 questions. To gain naturalisation, the applicant must pass this test but if they fail, then they must learn about life in the UK or apply to college for further education and knowledge.
However, if the individual who is applying for naturalisation is not married or is not in a civil relationship with a British national, then they should have been legally living in Britain for five years, they should have an understanding of the English Language and they should also show that they want to live in Britain. The policy of the British government is that the individual should have a home in the UK.
Because, an individual was born outside of Britain, they can receive British citizenship as their mother or father is a British national. Therefore, the individual would be classed as a British citizen by descent.
In conclusion, in this era, the way a person can become a citizen of the UK is through naturalisation. However, as the UK immigration law is constantly changing, the more difficult it will become for non-British nationals to become British nationals.