Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

The central point is that the Government see probationary citizenship as a key part of their vision for a new path to citizenship. We believe that citizenship should be earned. The second stage will enable migrants to demonstrate their continued commitment to the UK and it will support their integration; it will encourage migrants to continue their journey towards securing British citizenship. The objective of paragraph (d), which the amendment would omit, is to ensure that migrants cannot apply for naturalisation as British citizens until they have substantially progressed on the path and met the associated requirements. The amendments would allow a migrant to apply for naturalisation without having passed through the probationary citizenship scheme, which we see as a key part of the path and the journey. They would also mean that an EEA national could apply for naturalisation without first holding a permanent EEA entitlement, which would not be appropriate. It is therefore crucial that migrants are required to pass through the probationary citizenship stage before they can be naturalised as British citizens. It would not be appropriate to have EEA nationals apply for naturalisation without first gaining a permanent EEA entitlement. The connotations of the word "probation" depend entirely where you come from. Much of my life has been spent in employee relations. To me, "probation" meant the time that you served after joining an organisation, company or the Civil Service before you qualified to be a permanent member of staff, or an established civil servant, whatever the term was at the time. Of course, another connotation has been suggested by the noble Lord, who said that probation in criminal law is seen as something that precedes something more serious. We are not wedded to the word "probation". We think that it is the clearest way to describe how people should take on board active citizenship activities on the way to naturalisation but, if alternatives were put forward, the Government would be delighted to consider them. If anything clearer and more acceptable were put forward, there would not be great resistance from the Government to accepting it. In the mean time, I hope that the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw the amendment.