International Roundup

The United Kingdom Parliament has taken steps towards tightening several provisions of its immigration law. Once such measure affects the way a long-term UK resident can obtain citizenship. At present, any individual who has lived and worked in the UK for five years can apply for citizenship. The new law requires the applicant to enter a probationary period and earn points. Once an application for citizenship is filed, the foreign national enters a period during which the foreign national has to earn points in order to gain full citizenship. The probationary period can take any where from one to five years. Applicants for citizenship may earn points in many different ways. Some examples include: voluntary service, a clean criminal record and even maintaining familial relationships. A proposal of the new law was published on August 3, 2009 with the United Kingdom Border Agency and the agency seeks comments and suggestions. Readers can leave comments by filling out an online questieonaire.Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8180749.stm