Immigrants urged to live in Scotland

IMMIGRANTS who want to become British citizens will stand a better chance if they opt to live in Scotland, under radical reforms to be unveiled by the Home Office this summer.

A new "points-based" test for citizenship will credit applicants if they have set up home in parts of the country in need of increased population.

Scotland has been singled out by the Home Office as a place where points could be earned, because its own population is likely to fall over the long term.

The move, contained in a draft consultation to be released in the next few weeks, means prospective British citizens already settled in the UK may flock north of the Border to ensure they have enough points to be successful.

The new points-based system will also reward applicants who can show they have attributes required by the country, but will penalise them for failing to disregard British values.

Writing in Scotland on Sunday today, Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy confirms that "having lived and worked in Scotland is proposed as one way to earn points".

He adds: "Our need for a growing population is ranked along with the need to recruit to shortage occupations."

The new system of "earned citizenship" is borrowed from Australia, where immigrants must gain points over a number of years before being granted full citizen status.

Under the new Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, applicants will undertake a probationary period before being granted citizenship, meaning it could take up to eight years to complete the process.

Currently, foreigners can apply for British citizenship purely on the grounds that they are settled in the country. Last year, around a quarter of a million people passed the citizenship test which applicants must take.

Ministers say the new rules will allow them to have more control over the number of people gaining citizenship, but will also allow them to be more flexible about the threshold, depending on the needs of the country.

The Home Office draft paper declares: "Attributes for which points could be awarded might include earning potential, special artistic, scientific or literary merit, qualifications, shortage occupation, English (above existing requirements); and having lived and worked in a part of the UK in need of increased population, eg Scotland."