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#Britkid Serious Issues - UK IMMIGRATION LAW

UK IMMIGRATION LAW

The basics

In some ways the law is very strict about who can come and live in the U.K. People from most countries in the world - like Brazil, or Russia - have to get a visa just to get past the airport, even if they are only coming as a tourist.

Again, for most people, if they want to work in the U.K. it's even harder than getting a tourist visa. You can only work here if you're doing a specialist job that a British person can't do. This applies to people like footballers too - a Brazilian player can't be given a contract unless the government agrees.

The European Union

But this is not true for everyone. Anyone from most European countries can come here without a visa, and we can go to their countries, because we're all in the European Union. We can travel freely either as tourists or to get work. If large numbers of British people wanted to go to Germany or France to work, then they could just go (though of course there might not be any jobs). The same applies to French or German people - they could just as easily come to the U.K. In 2004 ten new countries joined the EU and some, like Poland are large. All these countries are poorer, and there are fewer jobs, so not surprisingly now that they don't need visas, many people from those countries want to find work in the rest of the EU. Not all EU countries let them come, only Ireland, Sweden and Britain have allowed free entry. They will have to wait until 2008 for free entry to the rest of the EU.

In 1900 a quarter of the world's population were British subjects, born in Britain or some part of the British Empire. The British Government decided who could stay and who had to leave. Immigration control began with the Aliens Act 1905. This was brought in to try and stop refugees (mainly Jews) from leaving Eastern Europe and come to Britain. For a long time the law wasn't changed much but form the 1960s it became more complicated and more strict.

A bit of history

Once it was much easier for people from outside Europe to come here. After World War II, the U.K. was short of workers and needed more - we had lots of new factories which were only working slowly because the owners couldn't find enough workers. We also had a new Health Service which was taking on new workers all the time. At first employers looked for new workers from places like Poland and Italy, but there weren't enough (other European countries were also short of workers). Between 1945 and 1947, over 345,000 European immigrants came to the UK. Then employers looked in other countries for workers, places where they knew some English was spoken and where people had worked for the British before - the Commonwealth countries and colonies. They asked workers from these countries to come and work in the U.K.

India, and many countries in Africa and in the Caribbean had been controlled by Britain and were just becoming independent. Many men from these countries had been soldiers in the war and many others (including women too) had worked in factories to produce things for Britain to help fight the war. The soldiers had fought in the Far East, in Africa, and in Europe. After the war, wages were higher in Britain than the colonies, so it was almost a natural step for many people to think of working here. Lots of Irish people came too.

This did not last very long. In 1962 the Commonwealth Immigration Act was passed to make immigration harder. This might be because Britain did not need so many workers, and it might have been because some white people didn't like the fact that many of the new immigrant workers had dark skins. Britain was used to ruling people with different cultures in the colonies, but having them living nearby was new.

More restrictions came in with the Immigration Act 1971 and several times since then. Today, people from old colonies, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and people from the Caribbean and Africa, find it very hard to get into Britain. Many other nationalities find it easier. If you are from India and you have a relation living here, or if you marry someone here, then it is possible to get in. If you have no connection with anyone here it is almost impossible to get the right to settle here and very difficult even to get a visitor's visa (because they think you might just stay).

So how do you get into Britain?

As a visitor almost anyone can apply to come for a short visit, though the authorities will be more suspicious of some people than others; people from other EU countries can come as often as they like without any special permission.

If you live abroad but have close family here, then you may be allowed to come here to live and work. It does not matter whether you are young and not yet working, or of working age, or retired.

As was explained above, people from any EU country can come here at any time to live and work.

If you are an asylum seeker and you have to leave your home country because for no fault of your own you are not safe there, then you can stay in Britain as a refugee if the authorities believe you'd really be in danger if you went back.

It's worth remembering that arguments about immigration are seldom really about numbers or about overcrowding. Until about 2004 more people left the country every year than entered it, and most of those who come in are white.

Akbhar, a friend of Mumtaz's Dad

I came here from a place called Sylhet in Bangladesh in 1974. Bangladesh is a poor country and I wanted to go and work somewhere where I could be better off. I was 24 years old when I came here and I had to have a job arranged before I would be allowed into the country. A cousin from my village was already here and working in an Indian restaurant, and he got me a job (actually most Indian restaurants are really Bangladeshi). I didn't really make any money at first. I stayed with my cousin in a house he rented from the Bangladeshi who owned the restaurant, and just saved all my money. After five years I had quite a lot saved and I got my own flat and had a holiday in Bangladesh to arrange to get married. My parents had found someone for me, we liked each other, and after we were married we came back here to live. I've worked in restaurants all my time here and I expect I will until I retire. Our children are now 16, 14 and 12, and I hope they will do well at school and get good interesting jobs.

GLOSSARY

Asylum - the permission to stay here given to someone recognised as a refugee under the 1951 United Nations Convention (also known as refugee status)

Asylum seeker / Refugee - someone seeking refuge, a safe place, because it is not safe for them in their own country. The United Nations says people are refugees if they fear for their safety because of their beliefs, 'race' or ethnic origins

British citizen - there are two kinds of British citizen: those born in the UK to a settled parent and those not born in the UK who obtain citizenship by descent, for example by having a British parent.

Commonwealth - most British colonies when they gained independence decided to join this group of countries.

Deportation - the act of sending people out the UK under a signed order by the Home Secretary for specific reasons. The person cannot return unless the order is first cancelled.

EEA - the European Economic Area, covers countries of the European Union, (EU) and three other European countries,(Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway). People from the EEA have free movement and rights in all 18 countries.

EU - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK, Polnad, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary. The joining date for two more countries, Romania and Bulgaria, is 2007, but although people from those countries are allowed to come to Britain without a visa, they can only work with a special permit, and only in certain jobs where there is a shortage of workers, like agriculture.

Illegal entrant - a person who immigration officers believe has entered the UK illegally by bypassing immigration control or through deception of some kind.

Immigrant - someone who comes into a country to live, a settler.

Migrant - someone who moves from one country to another to live.

Right of abode - the right to live and stay in the UK indefinitely and to come and go, free from immigration control.

Settled status - means someone has been given leave to remain in the UK on a permanent basis.

Visa national - people who always need to get entry clearance before travelling to the UK.