Time spent overseas on duty for the Armed Forces will count “in most cases” towards residency requirements for British citizenship.
Liam Byrne, the Immigration Minister, announced the change to immigration rules yesterday after complaints by troops from Commonwealth countries that the criteria were hard to meet because of postings abroad.
Those seeking citizenship must have lived in Britain for a minimum of five years and cannot spend more than fifteen months elsewhere during that period.
Mr Byrne said in a written ministerial statement to MPs: “In most cases the Secretary of State will now be prepared to exercise his discretion under the British Nationality Act 1981 to disregard absences from the UK occasioned by service in the British Armed Forces when considering whether the applicant is residentially qualified for naturalisation.”