UK Immigration News

Immigrants seeking entrance into the United Kingdom now have an easier route to follow, thanks to December's law allowing gay civil unions. Homosexual couples now have the same immigration rights as married heterosexual couples, and can receive a full passport after two years in the country.

The UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group recently marked the changes the civil partnership legislation has made to international couples, while calling for more help in tackling the problems facing lesbian and gay refugees.

Record numbers of people are leaving Britain to live and work abroad, figures show. More than 350,000 men and women are emigrating every year, a rise of 30 per cent in 10 years, The Independent reports.Experts are particularly concerned that the number of people in professional occupations leaving Britain has doubled since 1994.Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 359,500 people migrated from Britain to other countries in 2004, up from 236,500 in 1994.

Around 200 million passengers passed through UK airports in 2003 - and if growth continues as predicted, by 2030 as many as 600 million passengers will pass through UK airports each year.

As a result of this massive increase in travel, coupled with the fear of international terrorism, the government wants to tighten and automate security at borders.

The government is talking to suppliers about the £400m e-Borders project, which will use biometrics and databases to check the identity of passengers even before they travel to the UK.

The United Kingdom is to resume the issuance of first-time entry visas to Nigerians' under 30 years next month, UK foreign secretary Jack Straw announced.

The British embassy in Nigeria in 2004 banned that category of Nigerians from applying for a UK visa, citing a heavy work load and wide incidences of absconders. The UK Envoy to Nigeria Richard Gozney who announced the policy, said then that the young travellers were not convincing when showing evidence of why they would return to Nigeria.

Millions of British citizens will be required to hold an identity card and have their biometric details placed on a central database, after the government blocked an effort to stop the plan on Feb. 13.

Anyone applying for passports or immigration documents will in two years time be required to apply for an ID card.

The United Kingdom has changed immigration rules to safeguard children below 18 who wish to travel to the UK. Now, all applicants below the age of 18 must show that they had a parent or guardian who was responsible for their care in the UK and in their home country and that this person consented to their travel. Also, they should prove that they had suitable travel, that someone will meet them at the airport and that they have a place to stay in the UK.