Integrating into society
The Refugee Integration and Employment Services (RIES)
Good practice for long term settlement
Case study
British citizenship
Naturalisation versus registration
Language and cultural test
Dual nationality
Naturalising as a British citizen in future
Voting rights
As a signatory to the Refugee Convention, the UK government has committed to ensuring that people recognised as refugees are offered the same opportunities and equal access to services as UK citizens. In addition, the existence of marginalised refugee communities in this country is wasteful and can threaten community relations. Investment in good reception services and a focus on integration in the early days enables refugees to develop or adapt their skills and reduces the cost of any long-term dependency.
In 2000, the Home Office published its first strategy for the integration of refugees in the UK: Full and Equal Citizens. In the strategy paper, the Home Office recognised the importance of helping refugees fulfil their potential as a way of helping to minimise social exclusion, promote good race relations and enable refugees to contribute towards cultural and economic life in the UK. On 09 March 2005, the Government launched its complete strategy, Integration Matters: A National Strategy for Refugee Integration. You can view the strategy here.
In March 2009 the Government published its renewed commitment to refugee integration, “Moving On Together: Government’s recommitment to supporting refugees”. Developed in partnership with the voluntary sector through the coordination of the Refugee Council, the strategy highlights as key achievements the launch of the Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES) in October 2008 and the expansion of the Gateway Protection Programme.
It commits the Government and the voluntary sector to strengthened engagement at local, regional and national levels in promoting refugee integration. This strategy formally applies to England only and not to the three devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
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The Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES) is a new Home Office funded programme that offers services on integration, employment and training to newly recognised refugees. It was launched across the UK on 1 October 2008. It replaced Sunrise (Strategic Upgrade of National Refugee Integration Services), which was piloted in London, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Scotland for three years from October 2005.
The Refugee Council is providing this service as the lead contractor in the East of England, London, and the West Midlands, and as a subcontractor of Leeds City Council in Yorkshire and Humberside. See the Adult Employment and Education section for further details on RIES. More details on RIES can also be found on the Home Office’s website.
Asylum seekers, who have waited a long time for their asylum decision, will find it difficult to integrate smoothly into British life if they have had limited or no access to English language classes, training and work opportunities.
Equally, asylum applicants who receive their asylum decision within weeks rather than months will inevitably find it difficult to adjust to their new status if they have barely had time to adjust to the basic requirements of daily life in the UK during the waiting period. Refugees receiving favourable decisions may drift to London if they are unable to receive any help to facilitate their adjustment to life in the regional dispersal areas.
Yet even those asylum seekers who are eventually unsuccessful with their asylum application, should at the very least have had access to English language teaching and information about life and services in the UK. Local authorities obviously play a key role by including equal opportunities initiatives, community care plans, children’s services plans, and quality assurance into their strategic planning. This enables them to meet the needs of refugees as part of meeting the needs of all local residents. Refugee community organisations are vital players in helping facilitate refugees’ settlement into the UK. Their experience is invaluable to other service providers.
However, in some areas, it may still take some time for such community networks as well as other support groups to develop. Ever since the dispersal system was set up, refugee agencies, including the Refugee Council, have worked to set national standards for service provision for refugees, while at the same time recognising that service delivery has to be adapted to the specific needs of any local area. The following is some general good practice for advisers and those supporting refugees during the integration process:
- Value the contribution refugees can make. Support refugee community organisations and regional refugee councils and use their experience to inform service delivery
- Recognise that different experiences will generate different needs. Do not consider refugees as one homogeneous group
- Improve access to mainstream health and social services. Remove linguistic barriers, and make sure that services are culturally appropriate for different groups
- Establish good reception services in the early days
- Promote positive media relations so that service delivery is easier at local level. Also develop good relations with police and other services
- Provide access to information about education, training and the UK job market to empower refugees to make their own, informed decisions
- Provide high quality independent vocational advice and guidance to complement the advice and guidance available to refugees from one stop services and refugee community organisations
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Integration: a personal view In theory, integration is a process of adaptation and change both for the refugee and the host community, allowing the refugee to participate fully in all aspects of life in the host country while at the same time being able to retain his or her own culture. However, even with the best of intentions, the experience can be quite different. “I am like millions of migrants and refugees across the world who, despite working extremely hard to become British, Australian or American and putting even more effort into staying Bosnians, Vietnamese or Irish, end up being neither of the two.” “Unfortunately, integration is interpreted as refugees learning as much as possible about life in Britain and the host society trying to accept us Bosnians, Somalis, Vietnamese. Integration of people like me is not about accepting the Bosnian in me. It is not only about publications translated into refugee languages or advice on how to get low-paid jobs. It is also about accommodating the runner, the journalist, the husband, the community worker, the linguist, the European in me - all those aspects of refugees’ identities that fall into the group that leads this country.” Zafir, a refugee from Bosnia
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Racial harassment If an asylum seeker or refugee is attacked, intimidated, or insulted because of their colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, then this is considered a racist crime and should be reported to the police. The Refugee Council has produced an information leaflet on racial harassment. This is available in many languages on the Refugee Council website. The Equality and Human Rights Commission provides important information about your legal rights and racial harassment and racial discrimination. |
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British citizenship allows one to apply for a British passport and to participate fully in the life of one’s local community. For instance, British citizens enjoy the right to vote in local, national and European elections. British citizenship affords one the full extent of access to benefits and services such as healthcare and education. Citizenship also enables individuals to take advantage of the benefits of being European Union (EU) citizens, such as ease of travel and gaining employment in other EU countries.
The process of applying for British citizenship is called naturalisation. This is the main way for adults to become British citizens. People can become naturalised either because they meet UK residency requirements or because of marriage or civil partnership. Another way of gaining British nationality is by registration. This applies to children and some groups of adults who have a British national status but no automatic right to enter and live in the UK. For more information on registering as a British overseas citizen visit the Home Office's website.
People with ILR or permanent settlement are not automatically entitled to become British citizens. Naturalisation is not an entitlement but a matter of law as set out in the British Nationality Act 1981. The Home Secretary has the discretionary power to naturalise a person who meets a number of statutory requirements. She may waive certain requirements but she cannot do this in all cases.
People are eligible for British citizenship if they meet the following requirements:
- are 18 years old or older
- be of sound mind
- have sufficient understanding of English (or Welsh or Scottish Gaelic)
- have sufficient knowledge of life in the UK
- intend to have their main home in the UK
- are of good character. Criminal record checks are carried out in all cases. If a person has a conviction which is not yet “spent” under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, an application is unlikely to be successful. The Home Office will normally disregard a single conviction for minor offences if a person is suitable for citizenship in all other respects.
Applicants also have to meet residential requirements, which are that:
- the person applying has been legally resident in the UK for five years and has had no restrictions on his or her permission to remain in the UK during the 12 months prior to the date of applying for British citizenship
- was in the UK at the beginning of the five year period that ended on the day the UKBA gets the application for citizenship
- has not been outside the UK for more than 450 days during the five-year residency period
- has not been outside the UK for more than 90 days during the 12 months of unlimited leave before the date of application and
- has not breached immigration laws at any time during the five-year residency period
For more details on statutory requirements see the guide to the citizenship application form.
The requirements for people applying for British citizenship on grounds of marriage or civil partnership are different. See the Home Office’s website for more details.
The application form for naturalisation is Form AN (New). The application requires two referees who must be at least 25 years of age and have known the applicant for at least three years in a personal capacity. At the time of writing, the fee for applying for naturalisation for an adult was £720 and £460 for one or more child under the age of 18 plus £50 for each additional child. At the time of writing, the average waiting time for applications was four and a half months.
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Applicants whose English language ability is the equivalent of ESOL Entry Level 3 or above will need to pass the Life in the UK test. The Government believes that studying for and taking the test gives applicants the practical knowledge to live in this country and to take part in society.
Applicants whose English language ability is below ESOL Entry level 3 will need to pass an ESOL course with citizenship materials. These materials are intended to enable the applicant to gain sufficient knowledge of the UK at the same time as developing his or her knowledge of the English language.
For more information about how to prepare and where the tests can be taken, go to the Home Office's Life in the UK Test website. The Home Office publication Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship helps applicants prepare for this. It costs £9.99 and is available from bookshops. It can also be ordered online from The Stationery Office.
An applicant whose application for British citizenship is successful is required to take an oath or make an affirmation, and make a pledge at a citizenship ceremony. The oath is about allegiance to the Queen. At the ceremony, applicants have to pledge their loyalty to the UK and that they respect UK law and their duties as a British citizen.
Children born in the UK Children of refugees who are born in the UK take on the same immigration status as their parents. Children of asylum seekers who are born in the UK become part of the main applicant’s application for naturalisation. Children born in the UK are British citizens if at the time of their birth one of their parents had British nationality or ILR. |
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One can become a British citizen without giving up one’s present citizenship or nationality. However, many countries do not allow dual nationality. If you become a British citizen and are a national of a country that does not allow dual nationality, the authorities of that country may either regard you as having lost that nationality or may refuse to recognise your new nationality. The Home Office advises people intending to apply for British citizenship to check what their position would be with the authorities of the countries of which they are citizens.
It should be noted that UKBA are in the process of reviewing all existing immigration legislation including that relating to citizenship. The government’s proposals were set out in 'The Path to Citizenship: Next Steps in Reforming the Immigration System' in February 2008.
Since then these measures have been introduced as Part 2 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill 2009 currently before parliament. This is due to be considered in the House of Commons during May 2009 and is likely to become law during the summer.
Essentially, if these measures become law refugees will have to wait longer on a period of temporary leave known as probationary citizenship before they can achieve settled status. There are also additional criteria that people will have to fulfill which will affect how long they may wait.
See the parliamentary briefing at:
http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/policy/briefings/2009/borders_citizenship_immigration.htm
If you are considering applying for citizenship you may wish to seek advice about this now.
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The following categories of people can register to vote in the UK: - British citizens
- Commonwealth citizens
- Irish citizens
- European Union citizens (local and European elections only)
Only people of 18 years or above are allowed to vote. 16 or 17 year olds can only register if they will be 18 within the lifetime of the electoral register. People with ILR, HP or DL are not entitled to vote in the UK, unless they have the nationality of a Commonwealth country or have been naturalised as a British citizen.
People with HP or DL cannot apply for British citizenship. Commonwealth citizens can vote in local, national and European elections, provided they are resident in the UK and are registered on the electoral roll issued by their local council.
To find out more about voting in the UK, including how to register to vote or apply for a postal vote, visit the Electoral Commission’s website . Also click here.
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