UK toughens citizenship law against forced marriages
Foreign Desk Report

LONDON—Foreigners who want to marry Britons and settle here could face English language tests, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Wednesday in proposals largely aimed at clamping down on forced marriage.
To protect those most at risk from such marriages — largely found in Britain’s South Asian communities — Smith proposed raising from 18 to 21 the age for sponsoring a spouse to become a British citizen. Smith said she also wanted to make it harder for foreigners with criminal records to become British citizens.
The English language proposals would be to give newcomers a “flying start” on life in Britain. “I want people coming to live and work in the UK and their families to be able to integrate fully into our society,” Smith said in a speech at the London School of Economics. “I am today publishing proposals for new requirements for spouses who plan to settle here to have some knowledge of English prior to arrival.“I believe it is right that we protect those at risk and that is why I am proposing that the age at which a person can sponsor or be sponsored to come to the UK for marriage is raised from 18 to 21.”
On foreign nationals already living and working in Britain, she added: “I want to strengthen our ability to block the privilege of citizenship to those with a criminal record.
After all British citizenship is a privilege, not a right.” English tests were introduced for foreigners taking British citizenship from November 2005. They were extended in April this year to those seeking settlement. Widening the scope to spouses is expected to have a particular impact on Britain’s Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, which between them saw 17,000 spouses or fiances enter from their home countries last year, sometimes as a result of arranged or even forced marriages. Around 47,000 foreign spouses came to Britain last year in total.
The proposals were announced as the Home Office published details of its new Australian-style points-based immigration system, which begins in less than 100 days for certain types of highly-skilled workers. Immigration minister Liam Byrne revealed the government would effectively bar low-skilled workers from outside the European Union under the new system. About 12,000 unskilled migrants from non-EU countries came to work in Britain last year. On foreign nationals already living and working in Britain, she added: “I want to strengthen our ability to block the privilege of citizenship to those with a criminal record.
The consultation papers are open for public comment until February 27. The main opposition Conservatives said the new system would be ineffective in allowing public services to plan for new arrivals” without a limit on numbers. A sceptical Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said: “For the last 10 years the government’s approach to this issue has been disfigured by a combination of tough-talking populism and utter administrative incompetence.”