United Kingdom eases citizenship policy

Filipino workers in United Kingdom could soon return to the Philippines to be with their loved ones without jeopardizing their application for British citizenship, a UK official said.

Barbara Woodward, the director of The United Kingdom Border Agency International Group, revealed that the British government has started implementing the circular migration policy, which basically will allow workers applying for citizenship to return to their native countries and use their skills and expertise to benefit their homeland without jeopardizing their application for a UK citizenship.

The implementation of the policy coincided with the recently launched joint publication of the UK border agency and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office titled “International Challenges, International Solutions; Managing the Movement of People and Goods,” an international action plan to strengthen the UK’s partnerships with agencies of other countries to further improve its migration policies.

“We have come up with this because aside from the fact that they [foreigners] should have spent enough period of time in the UK to learn the British culture and history, we also want to make sure that the citizenship applicants are really committed to acquiring the citizenship instead of acquiring it only by default,” Woodward said during a recent press briefing in Manila.

She added that such policy is expected to be of help to the flourishing Filipino community in the United Kingdom that has played a vital role in the British economy.

“We are keeping track of the qualifications, resources, experiences needed in our country, and those from the Philippines are welcome,” Woodward said.

Also during his recent visit to the Philippines, James Sharp, the border agency’s regional director for Asia Pacific, noted that the United Kingdom wants its migration policies to benefit not only the UK but also the source countries, particularly developing countries such as the Philippines.

“That way, they will have a chance to take what they learn while working in the UK and bring back their new skills to benefit their source country before they return to the UK to continue their path to citizenship,” he said.

There are 300,000 Filipinos in the United Kingdom, according to Sharp, many of whom are employed in the health-care sector.

“It would be beneficial for the Philippines if [Filipino] nurses and doctors working in the UK would be allowed to go back to the Philippines for a number of years without affecting their application for UK citizenship,” he said.

The circular migration policy also seeks to strengthen data-sharing and intelligence with enforcement agencies abroad to fight international criminals and intensify the UK government’s campaign against submission of fraudulent and forged documents to support visa applications. –LLANESCA T. PANTI Reporter, Manila Times