Immigration

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**Immigration Policy:**
====The UK's immigration policy is based on the Right of Abode, a concept introduced in the 1971 Immigration Act. It gives an unrestricted right to live in the United Kingdom, which includes the privileges of working, studying, voting, and applying for social security and welfare benefits. All British citizens automatically have the right of abode.==== []

If one does not inherently have the Right of Abode, one can apply for British citizenship. Naturalization as a British citizen requires that you are over 18, that you have lived in the UK for at least 5 years, and that you must have acceptable proficiency in English, Welsh, or Scottish Gaelic. There is also both a "good character" requirement (for those over aged 10) and a "sound mind" requirement. []

Finally, to be naturalized as a British citizen, one must demonstrate "sufficient knowledge of life in the UK." To do so, one has to take a 24-multiple-choice-question test based on information given in the handbook "Life in the UK: A Journey to Citizenship." There are 65 test centers located in the UK and each test costs 34 pounds. Test your knowledge and take a mock version of the test here: []

Given the complexity of the different paths to work and study in the UK, the country has recently imposed a points-based system to simplify the sytem. Points are distributed to applicants based on where they fall within five tiers, and the tiers are based on the skills most needed in the UK. Highly skilled workers win enough points to automatically gain entry to the country with the greatest flexibility and most opportunities. The lower tiers are filled with lower skilled workers, students, and temporary workers. The Home Office, in conjunction with the new Migration Advisory Committee, are responsible for apportioning visas and deciding on point totals. []

Considering the current economic crisis and the strain that immigration places on welfare, education, and other social benefits, the policy of the current Conservative government is to further limit immigration quotas. Last year, net immigration totaled about 196,000, a figure that includes students and families of visa holders. As part of his pledge to voters, David Cameron has announced his intention to reduce that figure to below 100,000 by 2015. Part of that plan includes recent policy decisions to cap the number of non-Europeans allowed to work in the U.K. at 22,000 and cut down on visas granted to overseas students. However, as an E.U. member, Britain must allow citizens of most other members states to live and work freely in the U.K., so it remains to be seen how Cameron will continue to fulfill his promise to reduce net immigration by almost half. []


 * Current stances of the national political parties on the issue:**

Conservative Party /Liberal Democrats : David Cameron claims that he wants to keep the population of the United Kingdom below 70 million. He hopes that the net immigration, which is the total number of people coming into the UK minus the total number of people leaving, to be in the tens of thousands.

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Labour Party : The Labour party's view on immigration is extremely similar to that of the Conservatives. They also hope that the total net immigration can be lowered, and aim to keep the total population between 70 million.

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Both major parties feel that immigration is a beneficial thing, for it has introduced new ideas and object into the UK throughout history; however, they feel that the pressures from the population growth are too great for the public services. Cameron claimed that, "I think that we should be focusing on the pressure on our public services, on health and education and housing"(http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/11/david-cameron-limit-immigration).

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Debate over immigration in the UK

** Public Opinion: **
The following charts were based upon a survey of UK citizens conducted in October 2010 where individuals were asked several questions about their opinions about immigration related topics. The survey indicated that a majority of citizens ar e concerned about the level of immigration in the past five years from countries outside and within the EU. Also, a clear majority belie ved that the level of immigration from these two areas has been much to high in the recent past. The believed impact of this excessive immigration was a much more divided issue; however, a relatively slim majority believed that immigration has had a negative impact on the UK economy and society.

More information on the survey with further explanation of the results can be found at [].


 * Extent to which UK citizens were concerned about the level of immigration from countries outside of the European Union over the last five years**


 * Extent to which UK citizens were concerned about the level of immigration from countries within the European Union over the last five years**


 * View on level of immigration from countries outside of the European Union over the last five years**


 * View on level of immigration from countries within the European Union over the last five years**


 * Believed impact of immigration on UK economy**


 * Believed impact of immigration on UK society**

** Implications: **
When looking at the UK over the last ten years there has been a decrease in the amount of people immigrating into the country and emigrating out of the country, but there is still a net gain each year to Britain's population. Statistics show that between the years 2005 and 2006 there was a 32 percent decrease in the number of people applying for British citizenship. This trend has continued and is more than likely to get worse each following year due to stricter immigration policy.



 ﻿ In relating to Party policy on the issue, these statistics seem to be a good thing. Like the parties want, the net gain to Britain's population is going down each year. With party policy being this way it also implies that immigration policy will only get stricter in the coming years. It's also very doubtful that the parties will change their policy unless Britain starts to have negative population growth.

[] - Interesting PDF on implication of immigration to Britain


 * Chart on Estimated population growth in Britain Due to immigration**

In addition to the legal immigration into the UK, it is also believed that the number of illegal immigrants is increasing. A study in 2005 estimated that between 310,000 and 570,000 people currently reside illegally in the United Kingdom.

Over the past ten years the gross value of health and social work has increased by billions of dollars each year; if you consider that 80 percent of the nation's health care is provided by the government and that there are hundreds of thousands of people being added to the British population each year, it is easy to see the considerable amount of strain that is being put on British public services and why Cameron feels the way he does. The economic effects of this immigration are demonstrated by the fact that 98.5% of the new jobs created under the Labour

Party were filled by immigrant workers. Essentially, instead of revitalizing the British economy by reducing unemployment, the Labour Party's

new jobs were only able to provide for the influx of new citizens.