Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, this amendment would enable Clauses 42, 43 and 44 to commence on the day of Royal Assent rather than on such day as the Secretary of State may by order appoint. I shall respond in relation to each separate clause for ease of understanding. Clause 42 provides for amendments to Section 1 of the British Nationality Act 1981 to clarify the rights of those born in the United Kingdom to a Foreign and Commonwealth parent who is at the time of their birth, or who later becomes, a member of the UK Armed Forces. Clause 44 provides for a registration route to British citizenship for those born outside the United Kingdom and qualifying territories to a Foreign and Commonwealth member of the UK Armed Forces. Both provisions are dependent upon the commencement of Clause 47, which provides for a definition of, "““member of the armed forces””," to be inserted into Section 50 of the British Nationality Act 1981. This definition is based on the relevant sections of the Armed Forces Act 2006. However, not all relevant provisions in the Armed Forces Act 2006 are yet fully commenced. The Government expect that these will be commenced in full by order in late 2009 and will then commence Clause 47 to introduce a definition of, "““member of the armed forces””," into the British Nationality Act 1981. Only then will it be feasible in practice to commence Clauses 42 and 44. There are therefore valid practical reasons for resisting this amendment in relation to those clauses. In relation to Clause 42 and the amendment of Section 1 of the 1981 Act, I can reassure the House that this provision represents a clarification of existing policy application rather than the creation of a new statutory right. Thus those born in the UK to a Foreign and Commonwealth member of the UK Armed Forces will continue to acquire British citizenship by birth under Section 1 of the 1981 Act by virtue of the application of the definition of ““settled”” for nationality purposes—in other words, that definition will determine the answer to the question—and will not therefore suffer detriment resulting from a delay in commencement of Clause 42. Clause 44 is a new registration entitlement. It is right to delay commencement for the practical reasons I gave earlier but those born outside the UK to a Foreign and Commonwealth member of the UK Armed Forces will be eligible for registration as a British citizen under Section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981, as is happening in the current case. They, too, will not suffer detriment in practice. Clause 43 provides for an amendment to Section 4C of the 1981 Act, which provides for the registration as a British citizen of a person born before 1 January 1983 to a mother who could not, because of earlier discrimination in nationality legislation, transmit her citizenship status by descent to her child at birth. We wish to provide for this provision to be commenced by order so that we can put in place the necessary changes to UKBA nationality staff instructions, processes and training following Royal Assent to ensure that those seeking to exercise their rights under Section 4C of the British Nationality Act 1981, as amended, will be dealt with efficiently and comprehensively. I am not in a position to comment on the individual case that the noble Lord raised. Given our success on earlier occasions of taking issues away and looking at the circumstances behind them, I should like to offer that facility to see whether there are ways of solving the problem without having to accept the amendment. As I understand the example, Mrs A has to nationalise to stay in the UK if Section 4C is not commenced immediately. I think it will be easier for me to write to the noble Lord and perhaps discuss it outside the Chamber to see whether we can find a sympathetic way of dealing with the individual problem. In the mean time, I ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.