Further to our Law-Now publication on 31 July 2009, the UKBA has announced transitional arrangements concerning the implementation of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 (the "Act"). The Act will change the route to citizenship, the concept of indefinite leave to remain ("ILR") and introduces the idea of 'earned citizenship'. The relevant provisions of the Act will not come into force until July 2011 and this announcement clarifies the impact on those who hold or have already applied for ILR when the Act comes into force.
The Transitional Arrangements
Migrants with ILR or who have already applied for ILR when the Act comes into force
- Automatically deemed permanent residents with no further application required.
- Can apply for British citizenship under the rules currently in place for 2 years following the introduction of 'earned citizenship', i.e. until July 2013.
Highly Skilled Migrant Programme ("HSMP")
- UKBA has confirmed that those migrants who were granted HSMP and had a 'legitimate expectation' in relation to their ILR applications will be able to apply under the rules in place when they applied for HSMP. As the latest date that an HSMP could have applied for this status was 30 June 2008 (when Tier 1 (General) was introduced, this will only impact applicants until mid to late 2013, i.e. who would have expected to obtain ILR after 5 years in the UK.
All applications for indefinite leave to remain and British
citizenship received before earned citizenship is introduced will
be dealt with under the current system. They will not be required
to undertake any voluntary work.
Conclusion
The UKBA is beginning to clarify how the Act will work in practice. We will publish any updates through Law Now as they are published.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 06/10/2009.