An independent inquiry into UK citizenship policy will set out practical proposals for citizenship reform that would be capable of securing cross-party support.
The inquiry, chaired by Alberto Costa MP and coordinated by British Future, also aims to foster further debate about citizenship policy.
Questions considered by the inquiry include:
- What eligibility criteria should applicants fulfil before becoming British citizens?
- What changes should be made to the ‘Life in the UK’ test and English language requirements?
- How much is it reasonable to charge applicants for citizenship and settlement?
- How can the acquisition of citizenship become a positive and meaningful experience?
- What should citizenship policy aim to achieve in the UK?
To support the inquiry we issued an open call for evidence asking legal experts and academics, migrants’ organisations and other interested parties to provide supporting evidence.
One of the first inputs into to the inquiry is from a British Future deliberative event recently held in Southampton, which brought together ‘New Britons’ who recently attained citizenship with British-born citizens, to discuss and debate the criteria and costs of citizenship and the content of the Life in the UK test. A second deliberative event was held in Edinburgh later in 2019. Here’s what the Southampton group had to say:
The inquiry will publish its findings and recommendations in 2020.
This initiative was supported by the PARTICIPATE. iNTEGRATION project from Moneygram and also by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
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