The government has announced a new, easier route to British citizenship for Irish citizens who are resident in the UK. The changes will take effect from 22 July 2025.

An Irish citizen will be able to register as a British citizen if:

• they have been living in the UK for the previous 5 years
• they have not been absent for longer than prescribed limits during this period
• during the 5 years they must have not been in breach of immigration laws and they are of good character.

Applicants will not be required to demonstrate knowledge of the English language or sit the Life in the UK test.

The registration fee will be half of what other nationalities pay. It will cost £723 for adults and £607 for children.

 

A woman who posed as other people to take the Life in the UK test in their place has been jailed for four years and six months.

 Josephine Maurice pretended to be 13 different people as she took the tests at various Life in the UK Test centres around the UK. She used wigs and false documents to help her impersonate the test applicants.

Maurice pleaded guilty to 13 counts of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and two counts of possession of another person’s identity documents.

A woman has been arrested, accused of taking Life in the UK tests on behalf of others.

The 61-year-old is alleged to have dressed up in an array of disguises, using wigs to alter her appearance.

Investigators arrested the woman earlier this week in London. She is suspected of taking the test on behalf of at least 14 people.

It is alleged that she completed the tests at a number of test centres around the UK. Not only is she alleged to have disguised herself, but also that she used fraudulent documents.

A research team from the University of Essex has conducted research into the Life in the UK Test. They had 270 people, most of them UK citizens, take a test based on the Life in the UK Test. The result was that 66% per cent failed the test.

This goes to show that if you plan to take the  Life in the UK Test you need to be fully prepared. You need to have fully read the study materials and have taken practice tests to check that you have learned the materials and are ready to take the official test.

If you would like to know more about the University of Essex research there is more detail in the article linked below:

https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/two-thirds-brits-would-fail-uk-citizenship-test-questions-height-london-eye-831594

 

 

There is one year left before the EU Settlement Scheme application deadline of 30 June 2021.

So far there have been over 3.6 million applications to the EU Settlement Scheme and more than 3.3 million applications have been granted.

European Economic Area citizens and their family members who have been granted pre-settled or settled status now have the evidence they need to continue living and working in the UK.

The latest official statistics show that the highest number of applications have so far come from Polish citizens (697,900). Romanian citizens (590,100) and Italian citizens (363,600) are the next largest groups. Over 3.2 million applications have come from people living in England, 180,700 from Scotland, 59,400 from Wales and 59,700 from Northern Ireland.

The UK government has announced a new immigration route that will allow British Nationals Overseas (BNO) citizens in Hong Kong to come to the UK. This will grant them five years limited leave to remain, with the ability to live and work in the UK.

The new immigration rules will allow BNO citizens the right to live and work in the UK for longer than was previously allowed and give a path to full British citizenship.

After five years, they will be able to apply for settled status and, after a further 12 months with that status, apply for citizenship.

The new immigration route for BNO citizens will be implemented in the coming months. Further details, including implementation dates, are yet to be announced.

The latest EU Settlement Scheme statistics show that over 900,000 people have applied to the scheme.

Two-thirds of EU citizens who applied received settled status. For most this was because they had been resident in the UK for five years or more.

A third were granted pre-settled status.

Those with pre-settled status can stay for as long as they need to build up five years of continuous residence. Once they have five years of continuous residence they can apply for settled status.y

If you’re an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, you and your non-EU family members can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme free of charge.

You can find full guidance and start your application at:
https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families