Britain’s foreign secretary Suella Braverman has changed citizenship rules for criminals. According to the new rules, a convict who has served a prison sentence of 12 months or more will be denied UK citizenship.
Earlier, anyone who was imprisoned for four years and more was deemed unfit for obtaining a British passport.
Raising the bar
The revised rules come into force from Monday and will apply irrespective of where the crime took place. This means a convict who served a jail sentence outside the UK could also be denied British citizenship.
Braverman, an Indian origin minister, said her government is raising the bar for those seeking British citizenship by misusing the country’s laws.
The recent changes override previous rules under which some criminals could obtain UK passports after they had served a 15-year sentence irrespective of the crime committed and where it was committed.
Explaining her decision, Braverman said, “British citizenship is a privilege. Those who commit crimes shouldn’t be able to enjoy the breadth of rights citizenship brings, including holding a British passport, voting and accessing free medical care from the NHS (National Health Service).”
She also said, “I am cracking down on abuse of the UK’s immigration and nationality system, by introducing a tougher threshold so that serious criminals cannot gain British citizenship. This is the fair and right thing to do for our country,”
More specific and tougher rules
The new rules specify what counts as “good character” of the applicant. They also consider whether he or she has respected the rights and freedoms of the UK citizens. Observers say the revised requirements are stricter than the earlier procedures.
According to The Telegraph, the requirements consider convictions, kinds of crimes, genocide and terrorism.
However, there will be exceptions depending upon the circumstances in which the crime was committed.
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