From Gliddofglood: Can anyone tell me how immigration in the UK works? I am interested to know under what mechanisms London fills up with Russians, Africans, Chinese etc etc. I understand the arrival of people from EU countries, but I don't understand the arrival of people from other places. Are they students, asylum seekers, illegal immigrants? Or are there agreements with places like Nigeria and Somalia that their nationals can come and live in the UK? Can overseas students stay on once they have finished their courses? Can any residents of Hong Kong elect domicile in the UK? Don't read anything xenophobic into this question. I am just interested to know. It's quite ironic in some respects as border control is far stricter in the UK than anywhere else on the continent, where it no longer seems to exist at all.
I don't believe that anybody knows the answer to your question Pete. Since 2000 12 million immigrants have settled here. This must put a terrific strain on housing etc.
Most people arriving at UK borders are, of course, UK citizens entitled to live and work in UK who need no permission. There is also a long list of other categories. Citizens of other EU + EAA member states can enter by right in the same way UK citizens can enter those states - the arrangement is mutual - except for a small number who have been previously deported. Visitors arriving for a holiday, for shopping, on business, to study, or to work short-term are allowed in with a visa giving leave to remain for a limited period, often 3 months. For some countries the visa is waived (as it is for most UK citizens going to USA, for example). For some other countries the visa has to be applied for and obtained in the country of origin (i.e. not at Dover or Heathrow). British citizens are usually (not always) allowed to sponsor overseas family members to be admitted to live with them in UK indefinitely (wives, husbands, and children mainly), so some individuals are admitted on that basis. People can apply for longer work permits (such as actors, musicians, academics, journalists), in the same way as similar people from UK are permitted to work in other countries. People with huge wealth who want to live in UK and bring their wealth with them are rarely refused entry - although a few Russian criminals have been. At the bottom of the list are asylum seekers. These are people who allege they are escaping persecution (such as imprisonment, torture and death) in their home country, and apply for asylum in the UK. Many arrive by clandestine means; many have no papers or passport; many have no money; many are in a poor way medically or mentally. It is hard tell if their stories are true or false. The border agency has to decide what to do about each person arriving, in all the above categories. Under some circumstances decisions may be appealed through the tribunal system and the courts, but whatever is decided may be difficult or impossible to put into effect for practical reasons. There is a great deal more to it than this, but perhaps this will do for a start. The media are little interested in reporting the realities, the practicalities, or the principles - they just want headlines and synthetic outrage in the usual way.
How can an asylum seeker arrive in the UK when (or so I am led to believe) they are required to seek asylum in the first safe country they find themselves in ?
It is not a negative thread, it is a question about how something works and this is the lounge area on the forum so lots of topics and not really bike related. For what it`s worth it is my favourite section. I love bikes, particularly ducatis but couldnt give a stuff if the 899 has got liquid cooled throttle sprockets (it probably hasnt)or is half a nano second faster to 60 than anything else. That is why I always look at the threads in the lounge and dont always bother with the other sections. If you find it depressing then maybe you should avoid it .
i thought the policy was if you could cling onto the bottom of a 40ft trailer all the way from Belgium, or squeeze into a biscuit tin without releasing traces of CO2, you had basically graduated from the entrance exam?
john, i suggest you take a cursory glance at the geographic addendum in the back of Koran (conveniently, its in pictures)...the map clearly shows that the UK is next to saudi arabia and afghanistan...you take the flying horse to mecca, pick up 72 virgins, before stopping off at the housing office.
It always seems odd to me the amount of checking involved with passport control for UK citizens returning to the UK. And yet, apparently we have open borders for every asylum seeker and his dog...
Pete - The simple answer to your question would appear to be "it doesn't"... From my own personal experience I know of a Hong Kong Chinese laundryman who, after 40 years service to the Royal Navy, having served through the Korean war, the Falklands conflict, Bosnian conflict and first Gulf war ( and having the medals to show for it ) and having been awarded a BEM, was then forced to go back to Hong Kong ( now under Chinese control ) when he applied to live in the UK to be with his son who owned a restaurant in London. This is a man who had given his entire life to the service of this country and would have been no burden whatsoever on the state. Compare and contrast this case with the thousands of illegal immigrants that seem to be able to stay in the UK unhindered, and who are able to claim benefits, legal aid, free health care, housing, etc... There is absolutely no logic or sense to it !
whats weirder is that 99% of UK border officials do not appear to have been born here. Upon returning from LA a couple of years my ex and i were in the queue to check in our passports..there was a sign for UK and EU citizens and another for non UK/EU...she led me to the back of a long queue full of people in, for the most part Indian and some Arabic national dress...somewhere in the region of about 100 or so.. i said 'were in the wrong queue love, the UK/EU is over there and its empty'..She insisted that she was right, so i trudged off and had another look....turned out she was. We were the only white europeans and apparent english speakers in the queue..when we checked our passports the immigration officer was oriental....
Another appalling abuse of the system is the accord whereupon a person who, once entered into your country (whether legally or illegally), presents themselves to the authorities and is either HIV positive or has AIDS they MUST be treated. As a consequence, the UK has been inundated with, mostly african origin illegal immigrants making it into the UK for free treatment..then of course, they need to be fed and housed.. And we wonder why the NHS is at breaking point. The simple fact is, we inhabit a small group of islands and we cannot support the population. We dont no have the space or infrastructure and, excluding principalities small independent sovereign states like Hong Kong, Monaco and Guam etc we are one of the most densely populated countries in the developed world. List of sovereign states and dependent territories by population density - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I have a Romanian friend who was in the UK on a temporary work visa. She worked as a cleaner and as a health care nursing auxiliary whilst studying for qualifications to work in the health care research arena. Needless to say, she qualified and works in a high-powered sleep clinic research facility - in Switzerland. The UK was not interested in renewing my workaholic and intelligent friend's visa. No place for her in today's Britain.
