UK IMMIGRATION NEWS

2009 UK passport grants to reach 200,000

Friday, 26 June 2009

Figures obtained from the UK Home Office predict that the number of UK passports granted in 2009 will reach 200,000 – breaking the previous record of 164,540 set in 2007.

In the first three months of 2009, 54,615 UK citizenship applications were approved, representing an increase of 57% for the same period in 2008. Grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), the stage before citizenship, also increased in the first three months of 2009, with an annual rate of 190,000.

The dramatic increase has been attributed a rush of applications ahead of tougher new citizenship rules due for introduction later in the year that would see the average waiting time for citizenship extended to eight years from the existing five.

Speaking of the increase in ILR and citizenship figures, a Home Office spokesperson said:

"The increase in settlement grants reflects the success of UK Border Agency staff in clearing outstanding applications. It also reflects the Home Office's decision to tighten up the criteria for settlement. We have also set our plans for earned citizenship which demand that people earn the right to stay. We are now looking at raising the bar further by applying a points-based system to the path to citizenship and we will consult on this in the summer."

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