The Quintessential Guide to HSMP Visas

The United Kingdom is in the midst of deciding how to manage its Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, which allows foreigners to work in the United Kingdom, especially on highly talented jobs. The country’s Home Office had amended the HSMP visa rules in 2006 to make it more difficult for new foreign workers to get a visa and current visa holders to keep one. In response to the changes, the HSMP Forum actively sought to pressure the company to repeal the rules. In April, a High Court decided that the more stringent HSMP rules could be applied retroactively and anyone who had been forced out of the country could reapply for a visa. But they could not return immediately.

When the Home Office decided to revise the rules in 2006, it suspended the entire program for nearly a month, from Nov. 7, 2006, to Dec. 5, 2006. After the stricter rules for HSMP visas went into effect, they encountered resistance from groups that represent migrant workers, such as the HSMP Forum. Following the High Court decision in April, the Home Office revised the HSMP rules in July, and they will take effect in November. U.K. employers have a couple of weeks to learn the new rules for hiring skilled workers from other countries. If an employer wants to hire a skilled migrant worker, it must first file an application with the Border Agency and pay a fee, which can range from 330 pounds to 1,000 pounds.

In addition to paying the Border Agency’s fee, employers must comply with the agency’s investigations, which could include on-site visits. The Border Agency wants to ensure that employers are fully complying with the new requirements, including recordkeeping. If the Border Agency finds faults with an employer’s ability to satisfy the rules for HSMP visas, it can give the company a B rating. A B rating means that the employer cannot meet the rules because it has not established the needed systems or processes to comply.

After an employer can hire a worker with an HSMP visa, the foreign worker is clear to enter the United Kingdom for five years before reapplying for a visa. And foreign migrant workers can bring their families to the United Kingdom, too. As long as the foreign families remain stable and can provide for themselves, they will satisfy the HSMP visa requirements. By remaining employed, the HSMP visa holder will be more likely to receive a visa extension.

There are many companies available on he internet who are experts on the nuisances of many countries’ immigration systems and can help over seas visitor to have a long and productive stay in foreign country by helping them to obtain the correct visa for their needs. These companies usually guide the overseas visitor through this process from the beginning through to its conclusion providing a friendly face and advice in the overseas visitor’s native language. It is essential to shop around to find the best company for your needs.
My Smooth Group specialize in giving help and advice on HSMP Visas.

Independent Immigration

Immigration laws are those rules and regulations which govern the practices related to immigration in a country. The practice of immigration usually varies from country to country in accordance with the immigration laws of a particular country.

The main purpose of immigration laws is to facilitate immigration easily and effectively. Also, the idea behind immigration laws is to stop illegal entry into the country. In recent time, several terrorism acts have also increased the need of separate laws to control immigration. In most countries, immigration laws are taken very seriously and kept under strict vigilance.

Independent immigration Usually, immigration has different criterions and permissions can be taken on different grounds such as visiting as a tourist, for educational purposes, for employment and others. Seeking the visa as an independent immigrant is something different and a person needs to fulfill certain criterion for this.

To get an entry as an independent immigrant, a person must be able to obtain points on the basis of his or her personal skills, education and characteristics listed on the immigration list issued by the country. Proposed independent immigrant must have adequate work experience in specified fields of employment.

In case, if your skills or occupation is not listed under the list, you need to check with the business immigration page of that country.

However, there are some general criterions that need to be fulfilled by an applicant:

Age: A person must be under 45 at the time of applying.
English language: A person must have sufficient command in the English language to work inside the country.

Qualifications: A person must possess post-secondary qualifications and your skills must be assessed by the relevant assessing authority to justify his nominated occupation.
Nominated occupation: The nominated occupation chosen by an applicant must be found on the Skilled Occupations List of the country, where the application has been filed in.
Recent work experience: The period of work experience need to be certified with adequate documents.

Qualification exemption: In case, a person has finished his education recently, he needs not to reveal his work experience documents.
Skills assessment: A person must get assessed his skills by the assessing authority designated to assess his or her nominated occupation.

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Legal Designations Of People Under US Immigration Law

Here are some common terms for people who are pursuing action under US immigration law. These are some definitions of common terms that crop up in the everyday, though most people have only a vague idea about what they actually mean; here is a chance to find out.

Citizen:

A citizen is someone who hold citizenship, which is defined as state wherein a person holds membership in a political community and whose rights, social and political, are defended by the country where they maintain citizenship. A citizen has political rights, such as voting, whereas a non-citizen does not. While similar to the term ‘nationality;’ citizenship differs because you can have a nationality with having citizenship (this means you are subject to the laws of the country of your nationality, but have no political participation rights). It is also possible to have political rights without being the national of a state as long as you are a citizen.

Native-born citizen:

A native-born citizen is a citizen who was born in their country of citizenship. If a person is born in any country, they are automatically given fully legal citizenship at the moment of birth. A person is considered to be a citizen at birth if theyre jus soli, or born in the country in a certain place, even with non-native parents. They are also considered a citizen at birth via jus sanguinis, which is descent from a citizen of the country in which they were born. Either of these factors or a combination of both constitutes natural citizenship. If a person is both born in the country of citizenship to citizens of that country, they are considered a native-born-citizen. Both positions have all the same legal rights in a country; they’re simply different ways of categorizing people.

Naturalized citizen:

A naturalized citizen is a person who chooses to voluntarily apply for citizenship (and gets it) in a country that is not their place of origin. People who apply for naturalization run the gamut from immigrant workers to refugees and aliens. Usually a person must meet certain requirements before becoming a naturalized citizen.

Dual citizen:

A dual citizen is a person who holds citizenship in two countries. An example might be if a child was born to Costa Rican parents in the US. They would hold not only US citizenship, but Costa Rican citizenship as well. Another example would be if a child was born to an American parent and a Costa Rican parent in Costa Rica. The child would be a Costa Rican citizen, but could apply for naturalization in the US. Keep in mind that some countries, like the US and Cuba, don’t allow dual citizenship due to unresolved political disputes.

Alien:

Legally, an alien is anyone who is not a natural or native citizen of the country in which they live or work. Legal aliens are those allowed to stay in a country if they meet a specific set of criteria; a resident alien is one who has a permanent or temporary living space; a non-resident alien is what anyone is considered if they legally visit another country other than their own; In law, an alien is a person who is not a native or naturalized citizen of the land where they are found; an illegal alien is a citizen of one country who resides illegally in another country; an enemy alien is a person designated an enemy of the country they’re in on.

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Second Citizenship & Second Passport

Do your fear about your future and life? You could minimize the risk of unforeseen circumstances by accepting second citizenship of any country that you like to stay in. Accepting second citizenship is like a global insurance policy that provides you the benefits to make use of the dissimilar parts of two countries for a better set of options. You can make optimum use of good socio-economic conditions and other benefits at the same time. It is the easiest way to make a better living in another country.

For getting official entry into the other country, you will need a legal passport. So, when you decide of becoming the second citizen of another country, you will be allowed to maintain a legal passport of that country. Though, you can make different types of passport which may be cheap but not as safe as the legal and front door passport. It gives you legal entry to the second country of your choice and can gain many advantages that will enhance your way of living and gives you more confidence. Second passport is treated as the global insurance policy that will have considerable advantages on your life.

So, when you decide to become a citizenship of another country, make a legal passport as soon as you can. Try to avoid any illegal method to avoid the risk by ignoring making passports through unpublished and little known citizenship modalities. For better services, you can participate in existing citizenship programs offered by first rate countries, structured in such a way to give you the best advantage of getting the second passport. Taking a part in programs engineered for acquiring second passports guides you to the logical stages of existing citizenship programs.

Acquiring second citizenship with a legal second passport is the most prevalent reason to get a precaution against unforeseeable adversities. Further, you can enjoy the benefits of another country including better economic conditions, cultural and others to make your life more enjoyable and interesting.

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H-1B Immigrants Face Lawsuits from Employers

People from countries like India are often recruited by computer or IT employers to immigrate to the U.S. to work. Many such H-1B immigrants are unaware of the dangers of entering into contracts with such employers. Many computer or IT employers use questionable or unethical tactics to try to force H-1B immigrants into contracts of indentured servitude. The following pattern is being repeated over and over again. A computer or IT employer offers an H-1B immigrant an employment contract, while he is still living in India. The computer or IT employer offers to sponsor and pay for the H-1B visa application. Once the visa is granted, the H-1B Indian immigrant arrives in the United States. As soon as the H-1B Indian immigrant arrives, the computer or IT employer changes the deal. The computer or IT employer puts the Indian immigrant in a room and has several employees confront him in intimidating fashion with a different contract. This different contract requires prolonged service to the company and imposes penalties if the employee resigns too soon. The Indian immigrant can either sign the new contract or return to India. He then signs it feeling that he has no choice. After the Indian immigrant signs the new contract, he then finds a better paying job and leaves the IT employer. The IT employer then sues him for breach of contract for leaving to early.

H-1B immigrants can sometimes win lawsuits against IT employers, when they can show that the employer has acted in bad faith or has used unethical tactics. Additionally, H-1B immigrants may have claims against the IT employer including for fraudulent inducement. IT employers hope that the immigrant will not have the resources to fight a lawsuit.

To prevent becoming the victim of such unethical tactics, H-1B immigrants should insist upon having a provision in the original contract that the contract will not be changed or terminated upon entry into the U.S. or for, at least, a period thereafter. Such immigrants should retain copies of all important documents. Copies of documents need to be retained in the event the IT employer denies the existence of any pre-existing contracts. If an H-1B immigrant is already being sued for breach of contract, it is important to seek legal representation so that the unethical tactics can be exposed and a possible counter suit filed.

Ronald J. Wronko

When to use USCIS Premium Processing

When to use Premium Processing What is Premium Processing?

On June 1, 2001, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (now U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) put into place a Premium Processing Service, promising to speed up the agency’s applications decision process on selected work visas.

Under this program, paying an additional $1,000 fee will guarantee an USCIS decision on eligible temporary work visas within 15 calendar days of the receipt of the application by the USCIS. If the application or petition is not adjudicated within the 15 days the additional fee of $1,000 will be refunded and the case will still be completed under the Premium Processing rules.

The processing period that will be used to determine whether or not the USCIS meets the 15-day period will begin when the I-907 is delivered to the USCIS (at the appropriate address) and will end upon the USCIS mailing of a notice. The notice may be a notice of approval, request for evidence, intent to deny or notice of investigation for fraud or misrepresentation.

If the notice requires the submission of additional evidence or of a response to an intent to deny, a new 15-day period will begin upon the delivery to the USCIS of a complete response to the request for evidence or notice of intent to deny.

Who is eligible for Premium Processing?

Beginning with implementation of the program on June 1, 2001, employers filing a Form I-129 to classify a beneficiary under one of the following nonimmigrant categories could request Premium Processing Service: E-1, E-2, H-2B, H-3, L-1, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-2, P-3 and Q-1.

Since July 30th, 2001, the USCIS has made this service also available to employers wishing to file petitions to classify a beneficiary as an H-1B, TN or R nonimmigrant, thus covering all the major work visa categories.

Fee for Premium Processing

The fee for Premium Processing Service is $1,000. The Premium Processing fee is in addition to all other USCIS filing fees for the application or petition.

How to apply for Premium Processing?

Application for premium processing of a petition is made by filing a completed and signed Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service and attaching a separate remittance of $1000. Form I-907, together with Form I-129 and the supporting documents, may be filed with the Premium Processing Service unit of the USCIS Service Center.

Upgrading Regular petition to Premium Processing

In the case where an I-129 petition has already been filed without a request for Premium Processing, the regular processing can be upgraded to Premium Processing by forwarding Form I-907 and the check for remittance of $ 1,000 to the Service Center where the I-129 petition is pending, together with a copy of the Notice of Action Receipt Notice, Form I-797, as proof of receipt of the petition by the Service Center.

The 15-day guarantee

If the Service Center fails to process the petition within 15 calendar days, it will refund the $1,000 to the company and continue to process the petition as part of the Premium Processing Service. In addition to expedited processing, companies who participate in the program may use a dedicated phone number and e-mail address to check on the status of their petition or ask any other questions they may have concerning their petition.

Benefits of Premium Processing: When to use?

Premium Processing can be very effective in certain situations. The first and foremost advantage of Premium Processing is its use for new employment of nonimmigrant beneficiaries who need to wait for the approval of their petition to start work. This holds especially true for H-1B users subject to the H-1B cap.

Premium Processing is also effective for cases pending on a regular track in which an RFE is issued. Petitioners may opt to convert such a case to Premium Processing when submitting an RFE response.

The darker side

In practice, Premium Processing has proven to be a blessing (though an expensive one) in many cases. It may not, however, always be necessary or advisable to use the Premium Processing system.

Premium Processing should be used judiciously. If the Premium Processing examiner issues an RFE, the time sought to be saved may be lost by responding to the RFE. Also, Premium Processing may not be required at all, where the filing of petition is properly planned beforehand.

Conclusion

An unnecessary Premium Processing application may not just be expensive but it may also delay the entire application process. If you are an employer or a nonimmigrant in a similar situation consult a VisaPro attorney.

The above article is brought to you by “VisaPro.com”. VisaPro’s US Immigration Lawyer Services include H-1B, K-1 Visa, L-1, Green Card, and over 100 Immigration Services. The information in this article is not intended to be legal advice. If you have questions specific to your case, we suggest that you consult with the experienced immigration attorneys at http://consultattorney.visapro.com

TN Visa (TN-1) for Canadians/Mexicans to work in the United States

TN a special United States immigration status applicable only to the citizens of Canada and Mexico. The TN status is a result of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) where Canadian and Mexican citizens were granted the opportunity to work in the US, although the fields were defined. Some aspects of the TN visa make it similar to the H1-B visa although the TN has some added unique features. In fact, TN status holders can work for up to a year at a time although it can be renewed indefinitely in one-year increments. The occupations defined for TN status holders are also quite a bit more limited than for the H-1B visa.

To be eligible for TN status:

 An individual must have his profession noted in Appendix 1603.D.1.

 TN employee must possess all the required qualifications with proofs

Self-employment in the U.S. is not permitted for TN status holders. Professionals who are self-employed outside the U.S. may pursue business relationships with US-based companies from outside the U.S., however, under TN neither permits such professionals to come to the US to engage in self-employment, nor to render services to any entity in which he/she is a controlling owner or shareholder. Residents of Canada and Mexico may seek admission as B-1 (business visitor), E-1 (treaty trader), E-2 (treaty investor), or L-1 (intra-company transferee) nonimmigrant under NAFTA.

How to apply for TN Canadian residents can apply for TN-1 classification directly at any U.S. Class “A” port-of-entry, at any U.S. airport handling international traffic, or at a U.S. pre-flight/pre-clearance station in Canada1. Any application for TN must be supported by:

1. Proof of Canadian citizenship,

2. $50 filing fee,

3. Proof of required Appendix 1603.D credentials; and

4. A Letter from an U.S. employer/sending employer in Canada describing nature and duration of professional employment and salary/wages in the U.S.

Citizens of Canada are exempted from visa and do not require consular visas to travel or apply for admission to the U.S.

Mexicans must be approved beneficiaries of I-129 petitions filed by prospective US employers and approved by the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship, and Immigration Services’ Nebraska Service Center. Applications for TN must include:

1. Proof of Mexican citizenship,

2. Form ETA-90353 Labor Condition Attestation (LCA) certified by the US Labor Department

3. $130 filing fee

4. Proof of the purpose for entry, and proof of participation in a permitted NAFTA professional activity

Mexicans applying for admission to the US under TN status are required to file necessary paperwork with a Department of State Consulate in Mexico.

Family members, spouses, and unmarried children under 21 years of age of Canadian and Mexican professionals are eligible for the TD status. TD status holders (non-immigrants) may study in the US, but cannot seek employment. Although Mexican family members are automatically included in TN petitions filed at the Nebraska Service Center, they must file separate application for TD visas at US consulates. The other similar area of interest is Second Passport, Diplomatic passport immigration, Economic citizenship program, Diplomatic passport, investment immigration, Second citizenship program

Myself webmaster of http://www.geraldassociates.com/ dealing in services Second Passport, Second Citizenship, Instant citizenship, Independent immigration, Diplomatic passport, Diplomatic passport services, Diplomatic passport immigration, Economic citizenship program, Diplomatic passport,Diplomatic passport services, Diplomatic passport immigration,

New York Immigration Lawyer

Immigrating to New York is a formal process, which is to bee very carefully. New York immigration lawyer can help you to better understand those formalities and guide you how to proceed with those formalities. If you are planning to immigrate to New York it it highly recommended that you consult a New York immigration lawyer. New York immigration lawyer not only help you to complete the formalities for New York immigration she also tells you about the country you are immigrating. For examples New York immigration lawyer tell you about the culture, weather condition living standard, etc about the New York. With this information you can plan that if you really want to immigrate to New York or not.

Most of immigration policies are designed and developed according to the country needs. And moreover they keep changing time by time. You can always get the latest immigration rules and details regarding the procedure and eligibility by the immigration lawyer. A good immigration lawyer will always have the up to date information about the country’s immigration policies set by the government. She will give you the required documentation about the New York immigration so that you can study it and see yourself what are the possible issues involved immigration. In some cases it has been found that collecting information for New York immigration is a headache. Many time people do fail to collect the relevant immigration information. In such a case New York immigration lawyer could be a great help.

Many people also like to do the immigration formalities like filling up the document and submitting the additional copies of document by themselves without consulting the New York immigration lawyer. Doing so also result in a major failure. It is possible that you might miss some immigration document and may do some common mistakes while filling up the documents for immigration. New York Immigration lawyer will tell you precisely which element are to be filled in the application, how to better declare your information within the documentation, what document to attach with the application, etc. She will also review you document so that they are error free and there are minimum chances of failure or rejection.

The Carl Garcia by a new York immigration lawyer will always minimize the chance of rejection while immigrating to new York.

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New York Immigration Marriage Law?

United States is through a lawful marriage to a U.S. citizen. As a result, the Immigration Service saw many sham or business marriages. To protect the agency and the country from fraudulent applications and marriages, Congress passed Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986.

Marriage Residence status

Marriage now results in conditional residence status unless it is more than two years old at the time of granting the immigrant status. Two year period is measured from the time residency is granted. Conditional residence status may be terminated if before the second anniversary of the grant of conditional residence, the new york Immigration Service determines:

1) marriage was judicially terminated, such as a divorce
2) marriage was entered into to gain an immigration benefit
3) the couple failed to petition (Form I-751)

The Immigration Service to remove conditions within 90 days prior to second anniversary of conditional residence or the couple failed to attend their interview, unless the noncitizen has filed Form I-751 seeking a waiver of the joint filing requirement. Conditional residence becomes permanent residence after second anniversary of status if it is not terminated for any of the above reasons.

Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments Act covers spouses

If the new york Immigration Service suspects that an alien has entered into a sham marriage, that alien is subject to removal from the United States. For that to happen, the marriage must be fraudulent at its inception or from the very beginning.

To determine whether the marriage was fraudulent at inception, the Immigration Service looks at several factors. The question that becomes relevant is: did the bride and groom intend to establish a life together? The government looks at the subjective state of mind. However objective factors are also considered. The conduct of parties before and after the marriage is relevant. To prove validity of the marriage, the couple must present evidence which may include, but is not limited to, insurance policies, property, leases, income tax, bank accounts, etc. Additionally, the couple must be consistent in its answers to the immigration officer.

Bradford Brenstein is born in New York it is Immigration lawyer, US marriage visa, new york work visa, us immigration problems handle by new york maariage offices and Manhattan Offices.

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The Immigration Asylum & Nationality Act 2006 – Summary Of Changes

The Immigration Asylum & Nationality Act 2006 is the fifth major piece of legislation in the field of asylum and immigration since 1993. Commencement

The Immigration Asylum & Nationality Act 2006 received Royal Assent on the 30th March 2006 and by virtue of a second commencement order, the main provisions took effect on 31 August 2006 by virtue of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (Commencement No.2) Order 2006.

Appeals

The first sections of the Act are concerned with appeals and impose new restrictions on the right to appeal against Home Office asylum or immigration decisions. The most significant is section 4 which limits the right of appeal against refusal of entry clearance to cases in which the application for entry clearance was made either for the purpose of entering as a dependant or a visitor – in both cases limited by reference to regulations made by the Home Secretary. Significantly, there will no longer be a right of appeal against refusal of entry clearance as a student.

Section 1 inserts a new section 83A into the Immigration, Nationality and Asylum Act 2002 to introduce a new right of appeal for people who are no longer recognised as refugees but who are permitted to stay in the UK on some other basis. Section 2 amends section 82(2)(g) of the 2002 Act to provide a right of appeal against a decision to remove under section 10(1)(b) of the 1999 Act. This will give the person a separate right of appeal at each of the two decision stages; the first at the revocation stage and the second at the stage the decision to remove is taken. Section 3 amends section 84 of the 2002 Act. It provides that an appeal under the new section 83A may only be brought on the ground that removal would breach the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Refugee Convention. Section 4 substitutes one provision for Sections 88A, 90 and 91 of the 2002 Act which limits all appeals against refusal of entry clearance to limited grounds (human rights and race discrimination), with the exception of those listed in the categories. By section 6 a person may not appeal against refusal of leave to enter the United Kingdom unless: (1) on his arrival in the United Kingdom he had entry clearance and (2) the purpose of entry specified in the entry clearance is the same as that specified in his application for leave to enter. Section 89 of the 2002 Act restricts rights of appeal against refusal of permission to enter at the port of both visitors and students who do not hold an entry clearance. This restriction limits the grounds of appeal to human rights and race discrimination. If the appeal is exercised in the UK it is restricted to asylum. A right of appeal remains in all cases on both human rights and race discrimination grounds.

Section 7 provides powers to hear only human rights aspects of national security appeal cases in country with the national security aspects of the case.

Employment

Section 15 imposes civil (and not criminal) penalties in the form of fines on employers of persons over the age of 16 subject to immigration control in defined circumstances. A person is subject to immigration control if he requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under the provisions of the Immigration Act 1971. The defined circumstances are that:

(1) the employee had no leave to enter or remain or

(2) his leave was invalid, had expired or otherwise prevented him from accepting employment.

Provision is made in Sections 16 and 17 for objections on the part of the employer to the imposition of a penalty and for appeal to a County Court against such an imposition.

By section 21, if the employer knowingly employs an over-16 subject to immigration control he commits an offence which is punishable (on indictment) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or on summary conviction for a term not exceeding 12 months and/or in either case to a fine. If the employer employs an individual without permission to work allowing on the spot fines of up to £2000 per illegal worker.

Section 23 imposes an obligation on the Home Secretary to issue a Code of Practice specifying what employers should do to avoid:

(1) liability to civil penalties,

(2) the commission of offences under section 21 and

(3) discrimination which would be contrary to race relations legislation.

Information

Section 27 relates to provisions on detention and examination of passports and other documents produced by passengers or those found on them while being examined under Schedule 2. It also provides a new power to enable immigration officers to require passengers being examined under Schedule 2 to provide biometric information such as fingerprints for the purpose of ascertaining whether a passenger in question is the rightful holder of the passport or other document he produces. Section 29 imposes stricter time limits on people seeking asylum to attend for fingerprinting than on people in other categories.

Section 32 gives the police powers to require advance information about passengers and crew or freight of ships and aircraft arriving, expected to arrive, leaving or expected to leave the United Kingdom. Existing powers of the H.M. Revenue and Customs to obtain such information are by Section 33 is extended to ships and aircraft arriving or expected to arrive in the United Kingdom.

Section 54 broadens the exclusion clause in 1F(c) of the Refugee Convention. Provides that where the Secretary of State rejects an asylum claim wholly or partly on the basis of Article 1F, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal or the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) must begin its deliberations on the asylum aspects of any appeal by considering whether or nor Article 1F applies and if it does it must dismiss the appeal in so far as it relies on the Refugee Convention.

Section 55 empowers the Home Secretary to issue a certificate declaring that the appellant is not entitled to the protection of Article 33.1 of the Convention because one or other of the exclusions applies. If such a certificate is issued, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal is required by section 55 to begin its hearing of the appeal by considering the contents of the certificate. If the Tribunal agrees with the certificate then there will be no necessity to consider the evidence which the appellant would otherwise adduce in support of his asylum appeal. In other words the Tribunal is now able to dismiss an appeal on this preliminary point.

Provisions on citizenship

Section 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 empowers the Home Secretary to deprive a person of British citizenship if he is satisfied that that person has done something prejudicial to the vital interests of the United Kingdom or a British overseas territory. Such an order may not be made if the person concerned is thereby rendered stateless. Section 56 of the 2006 Act amends the wording so that the Home Secretary must be satisfied that deprivation of citizenship is conducive to the public good Section 2 of the Immigration Act 1971 defines “right of abode in the United Kingdom” as extending to British citizens and to Commonwealth citizens who acquired that right before the commencement of the British Nationality Act 1981. By section 57 the Home Secretary is empowered to deprive a person of the right of abode if he thinks that it would be conducive to the public good for the person concerned to be excluded or removed from the United Kingdom.

Various provisions of the British Nationality Act 1981 deal with the registration of persons as British citizens or as British overseas territories citizens. Section 58(1) now precludes the registration as a citizen of any description of any person falling within the categories concerned unless the Home Secretary is satisfied that the person concerned is of good character.

Ian Mann is an employment and immigration barrister. He was called to the Bar in 2000. He specialises in employment disputes and public law matters involving immigration and other areas of judicial review. http://www.employment-barrister-uk.com http://www.13kbw.co.uk

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