London [UK], July 31 : UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Monday said that she is introducing a "tougher threshold" to stop "serious criminals" from gaining British citizenship.
Taking to Twitter, the Indian-origin minister said, "British citizenship is a privilege - those who commit a crime or do not show respect for our freedoms and rights should not be entitled to receive it. From today I am introducing a tougher threshold so that serious criminals cannot claim citizenship here."
This new law will change the previous rules where some criminals could be granted British citizenship even after a custodial sentence of at least 12 months but less than 4 years unless a period of 15 years has passed since the end of the sentence, regardless of the type of crime or where it was committed.
This UK government said it re-affirms the government’s commitment to protecting UK borders and ensuring no one with a criminal record can abuse the British immigration and nationality system.
The updated rules are stricter and more specific on so-called “good character” requirements, which are a key condition to be granted British citizenship, and look at whether an individual has observed UK law as well as shown respect for the rights and freedoms of British citizens. The requirements include factors such as criminal convictions, immigration offending and serious behaviour like war crimes, terrorism or genocide, according to the statement released by the UK government.
The changes remove the previous rules where some criminals could be granted British citizenship after a prescribed number of years had passed since the end of their sentence – regardless of the type of crime or where it was committed.
There will be some exceptions to the new rules, which will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, for example, if someone has mitigating circumstances that support an exceptional grant. Cases like this could include someone who committed a minor offence a long time ago but has made sufficient, positive changes that they are now considered to be of good character, the statement read.
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