Citizenship Test

November 2, 2007

Whether people think these are stupid questions or not, the fact is that these are the type of questions that people from outside the EU, wishing to remain in the UK, have to study and pass, in order to be granted "leave to remain".
Not Citizenship, that is a further process at extra cost to the individual, but only leave to remain.
People from outside the EU, here legally on a work permit, in most cases if not all cases, work here without recourse to public funds. IE, they cannot claim any benefits or tax allowances even though they are paying taxes and national insurance.
I am sure anybody who has filled in a government form for income support or council tax benefit knows just how long and complex they are. The forms for leave to remain are worse! And if you make even a slight mistake on your form and your application is rejected, that individual also loses the application fee which currently stands at £750 for postal applications and £900 for in-person application.
The Life in the UK test which you have just had a go at is a unsurprising a seperate fee.
If the individual is luck enough to get leave to remain and them makes it though a further qualifying period, the fee for Citizenship is another £655.
The link below shows the range of forms an individual has to choose from and the rules and regulations that go with each form:
HM Home Office.
For individuals from within the EU the situation is slightly different but I am sure natives of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cypress, Malta and more recently Bulgaria moan about British citizens and others from northern Europe buying holiday homes or retiring in their countries, pushing up their property prices.
There are two sides to every coin.

Very well written! :thumbsup:

As I lived between British citizens in the Algarve for 5 years and most of them (don’t speak a word of Portuguese) behave them selves if it's a part of the U.K. :unsure: