Row over UK plans to abolish 'ancestry visa'

LONDON: Amid growing criticism of Britain's wholesale overhaul of its immigration system, an MP of the governing Labour Party has challenged plans to sever the UK's historic ties to tens of thousands of Commonwealth nationals who have an automatic right through descent to live and work here. The so-called 'ancestry visa', introduced 36 years ago by Britain as a mark of appreciation of its former dominions, is available to Commonwealth nationals aged 17 or over, whose grandparents were born in the UK. This visa entitles holders to live in Britain for four years to work and eventually to settle. Statistics show that it has mainly been used by nationals of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa though it is technically available to Indians as well because of the Commonwealth ties. On Friday, Labour MP Austin Mitchell, criticised the move to remove ancestry visa-holders' rights and privileges as an un-British attempt to "shrug off our Commonwealth commitments". Mitchell, who may table a motion in parliament, lamented that "What is happening here is that in a general rush to make ourselves European, we are trying to shrug off our Commonwealth commitments." The government is proposing that 'ancestry visa-holders' face the same restrictions on working here as other non-European migrants. It comes alongside proposals to introduce an "immigrant tax" for non-European visitors and the requirement that non-European spouses and fiancees of British national face and pass an English language test if they are to enter the UK at all. The British Home Office's Green Paper on the issue says, "We need to decide whether a Commonwealth national's ancestral connections to the UK are sufficient to allow them to come here to work without the need to satisfy a resident labour market test." But Mitchell denounced the proposed change as a sign of the government's "contempt for the long historic associations between Britain, New Zealand and Australia". Without mention of India, which offered vast numbers of men in the service of the British Raj in both world wars, Mitchell stressed, "The dominions sprang to our aid when we needed them in two world wars and since. Their inhabitants are of British descent. They are keen to maintain the long-standing Commonwealth ties and associations with this country. Yet, the Green Paper blithely proposes to abolish the ancestry visas granted in recognition of these ties on the grounds that they are 'outdated'."