Draft Bill is Published and Volunteer Provision

[1963British]

Well the draft bill is http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... enshipbill now published so the big question is how does it affect people already in the system?

Basically the qualifying period for spouses is five years and eight years for all else. You get two years off for good behaviour (volunteering).

The draft bill has the following language;

A is exempt from participating in such activities.

The government response to the consultation had this line but nothing else.

Some concerns were raised about how those already in the system will be affected by the proposals and how any transitional arrangements would work.

By way of example, my spouse already has Indefinite Leave to Enter that became Indefinite Leave to Remain when she entered. Regardless of old law or new law she is a "permanent resident." But she would not complete the three years for naturalization until after the new law goes into affect.

Anybodies best guess on transition arrangements in light of past experience and the above two quotes?

My wife does volunteering but who knows what and how much will be classified as the "right volunteering" to get time off for good behavior.

[sonia2]

The other question is whether it is full time volunteering or part time volunteering over the period of 1 year after PR. Will the person resign from their job or take a year's leave for the volunteering requirement?

[John]

she would not complete the three years for naturalization until after the new law goes into affect.

When do you expect the new law to come into effect? When is your wife able to met the 3 year requirement?

[Christophe]

The other question is whether it is full time volunteering or part time volunteering over the period of 1 year after PR. Will the person resign from their job or take a year's leave for the volunteering requirement?

I can't think that they're talking about full-time voluntary work: that would hardly be practicable for most people.

[whirly]

When do you expect the new law to come into effect?

I have not read the entire draft bill yet and I still don't understand exactly how it will be implemented. But I noticed in the Partial Impact Assessment of draft (partial) Immigration and Citizenship Bill (page 2 of PDF download) that it says,

On what date will the policy be implemented?
2011

Perhaps they will clear up a lot of questions and anxiety before then? If that is, indeed, the date?

[1963British]

Whirly, that was a good find and sheds some light on to the matter.

That got myself to probe further. I would cut and paste but unusually, I can not seem to cut and paste from the draft bill.

Anyway, on page 107 is the section called Commencement. The part that would be of interest here is that after all this is passed, very little comes into effect until the Secretary of State makes it so.

Also on page 102 there is a whole section on orders and regulations.

Based on what you found, then what I just read, adding in a little commonsense, it looks like this would all come into effect three years from the date it was first published.

My spouse is eligible for Citizenship in early 2010 and I am thinking that she will most likely be applying under the old rules. Plus when you think about it, that type of timefame allows the Government to say that they gave everyone the chance to "finish" the path they were on., at least if you already had ILR and were now waiting for the qualifying years.

My spouse will continue with her volunteering position, as I have always felt that it was just a good thing to do. My fear has been what volunteering activities would be acceptable. In the original consultation I recall, that it seemed like the Government wanted a hands off approach that would be non-intrusive and easy to work with.

Common sense again tells me, even though these are politicians, is that initially the volunteering activity should simply be a yes/no affair with any type of charitable organization signed off like a referee.

[whirly]

Hmmm, I just found another interesting nugget here on the UKBA website:

Naturalising as a British citizen in the future
What are the proposed changes?
On 20 February 2008 the Government published the Green Paper 'The Path to Citizenship: Next Steps in Reforming the Immigration System'. In this document we outlined our proposals for changing the way that someone can become a British citizen or remain here as a permanent resident. These proposals are collectively called 'Earned citizenship'. These proposals will, if agreed by Parliament, lead to change late in 2009. Thereafter, migrants will be expected to pass through 3 key stages and demonstrate certain requirements in order to progress between these. Our aim is to make the journey clearer, simpler and easier for migrants and the public to understand. The three stages are set out below:

1. Temporary residence
2. Probationary citizenship
3. British citizenship/permanent residence

Until then existing arrangements for naturalisation will continue.

(emphasis mine)

Curiouser and curiouser, and still unclear in my opinion.

63Brit: I sincerely hope your wife isn't caught in any transition between late 2009 and early 2010! Sounds like you and she are taking no chances.

My husband and I were discussing the 'mandatory volunteerism' requirement, too. I volunteer for my USA college alumnae association. We are a registered UK charity, and most of our fundraising benefits British students studying abroad, but we're still a largely American group. Would this count toward my contribution to Britain?! (Thankfully I am currently applying for British naturalisation and shouldn't be affected by the new rules, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried for the rest of you!) I really think they need to define these terms better. I hope you're right and common sense prevails...

[1963British]

A new thread came up by senior member RobinLondon that has some tidbits and assumptions on timelines that may apply to this topic as well.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=28711

Transitional measures:

Again this has not been addressed at all in the documents thus far. However, I would expect that individuals who have been granted ILR before that phrase is abolished and replaced by "probational citizenship" will be allowed to retain it. So there won't likely be retroactive effects in that regard. Most likely, however, they will be incentivised/coerced to apply for citizenship through some transitional regime that, again, has not been disclosed. At some point in the future, the naturalisation requirements for ILR holders and probational citizens will likely and naturally merge.

whirly, I think you hit it just right when you wrote that your group was a registered UK Charity. Thats the same with my spouse. Actually before we came over from the US, because we knew she would be doing something, making sure that it was a UK registered charity was one of the criteria I passively insisted on. That was when all this was just early talk, long before the green and white papers.

Going back to Robins comments it would appear that commonsense should prevail as the Secretary would be able to have simple transitional arrangements if you have Indefinite Leave to Enter/Remain. If you have that, you are on a "path" and should be allowed to complete your "journey" on that "path."

[Emma84]

So based on what people in this thread have said, can I assume that I will be able to apply for citizenship as planned in January under the old rules.

I was having a debate with myself because I will be gone for a month in April and May to get married to my British partner and I was wondering whether I should wait till we get back or go ahead and apply in January?

[1963British]

I must say at looking at the discussions we are all having and using the terms "journey" and "path" and trying to figure out what the politicians have done, it is very clear to me that in order to be a MP you have to certified insane. This is really utter madness.

In my opinion as to your circumstances, get married and apply for citizenship as soon as you can. Have the forms all pre-filled out and an appointment with NCS scheduled in as far in advance as possible.

My guess is that you will be just fine under the old rules. A special thanks to RobinLondon who has immensely helped my own understanding on this issue.

If I had to place a bet on how this will work for my spouse who has ILR but can not apply until 2010, I think she is going to be applying under the old rules either through delays in implementation or transitional arrangements.

This government talks of doing things in "the interest of fairness" and there are a large number of people on a "path to citizenship" right now, who will have there "journey" interrupted if the Government is too fast or does not provide transitional arrangements.

Really, it would be so simple for the Secretary to "exempt" those that hold ILR from the "specified activities."

[thesaint]

after going throw all the draft documents I think its obvious if you have ILR then you are safe.
also if you plan to apply any time before the end of 2009 you will be alright

[iceman010899]

Hi,

Current ILR holders will not be effected right ? Would I need to convert to probationary citizenship ?