Legislative Scrutiny - Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill: Ninth Report of Session 2008-09

In this report on the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, the Joint Committee on Human Rights says the Government should reconsider proposed changes to the pathway to British citizenship. Whilst the Bill does not change the underlying position of migrants’ access to benefits, it extends the time it takes to get to applying for citizenship by a year. During this period a person given the new ‘probationary citizenship’ will be ineligible for 15 different types of benefit that are available to those with ‘indefinite leave to remain’. The Committee is also concerned that the new rules may be applied retrospectively and urges the Government not to override the legitimate expectations of migrants already on the path to citizenship under the current rules. The Committee also has concerns about the proposed ‘short cut’ to citizenship, which can reduce the time it takes to naturalise by two years if applicants participate in unpaid community activity. Tracking this activity risks infringing people’s right to privacy and the Committee is also concerned that the requirement risks penalising people who are unable to undertake such activities (because of disability or caring responsibilities or because they are already in paid full time work). The Committee welcomes the new positive duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the discharge of immigration, asylum, nationality and customs functions and the reversal of the Government’s previous policy of excluding children subject to immigration control from the protection of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.