Another important attribution the Home Office has is to control the immigration laws, and prevent people from abusing them. It does so through the UK Border Agency. The agency also deals with whatever issues may arise when passports are involved. In other words, this is the place where you must turn to if you want to enter or leave the United Kingdom. Applications for issuing a passport are processed by the Office, as well as any visa requests.

Over the past several years, the Office started a reorganisation process, which continues to this day. The applications for visas and passports are steadily being moved from their current location, to the Home Office official website. To accustom people to this change, both locations are currently valid, but, eventually, only the Office’s site will be valid. The same happens when it come to the documentation needed for British citizens to travel overseas.

While the latter aspect poses no particular difficulty in solving, when it comes to issues concerning immigrants, things become more complicated.

In order for immigrants to become citizens of the United Kingdom, a point based system was put into practice in 2008, replacing all the other systems previously employed. According to this system, people who want to become UK citizens need to accumulate points in certain domains, such as voluntary work or having useful skills.

This new system is comprised of 5 tiers, the first targeting the most specialized and trained workers, while the 5^th tier addressing young people who temporarily work in the UK in non-economic areas. The 4^th tier covers students how are attending a university in the Isles. The Home Office is keeping a close eye on students, because there have been many cases in which they “forgot” to return home. But that should not be interpreted as the Office discouraging students from entering the UK.

The office also managed to successfully solve a very recent and serious issue, namely a number of false universities bringing immigrants into the country. Legal actions were taken to tighten the conditions needed for universities to accept international students, thus leading to some 11,000 students each year not being granted the right to enter the UK.

Another positive aspect of strict surveillance is that the number of those seeking immigration though false claims of being refugees has lowered considerably. The same is true in the case of political asylum requests. Thus, only those with a true need will receive UK citizenship.

The Home Office efforts are further aided by the 10,000 pounds fine that businesses which accept illegal immigrants are charged with. Overall, the situation of people who enter the UK without a passport or with false documentation, or who overstay their visas, is brighter when compared to other countries. Still, it is estimated that nearly half a million illegal immigrants are on British soil.

Problems regarding this aspect tend to be quite sensible. The tabloid press is often vastly exaggerating any issue concerning immigrants, but it is true they are a problem. But the Home Office has adequate means of dealing with them and is performing that job admirably.

- external controls, including visa issues;

- borders controls, including passport and customs controls;

- immigration controls, including asylum and applications for extending stay and settlement in the UK.

The structure of the organisation is divided into four separate commands:

- the Border Force manages the entry ports of the UK and the Border Targeting Centre, which is the high-tech hub of the UK Border Agency focusing on the screening of passenger movements in and out of the UK by rail, air and sea;

- the International Group handles all work-related issues and visa applications for the UK through the Visa Service;

- the Immigration Group manages casework and enforcement in the country;

- the Criminality and Detention division carries out and manages criminal investigations and is also engaged in handling criminal cases and removal centres.

In other words, the UK Border Agency is the organisation to handle issues related to entering or leaving the UK or to passports. If you wish to apply for a UK visa from another country, you can contact the Agency’s commercial partner in your region – for example, in India you will have to contact the VFS Global. These commercial partners handle the visa applications in close collaboration with the UK Border Agency. They do not take part in the decision making process, but offer assistance with questions related to the types of visa the applicant needs to apply for.

The UK Border Agency offers the public services regarding different applications. You can submit certain types of applications online and you can use certain services through the internet. For example:

– You can obtain detailed information about the legal conditions of visiting the UK, working or studying in the UK;
– You can submit your online application for a visa to the UK and also pay the visa fee through a secure internet connection;
– You can book an appointment at the public enquiry office and biometric enrolment centre. Biometric information (your fingerprints and facial image) is necessary if you have applied for extending your stay or for settlement in the UK. You must send your application by post and you will receive a biometric notification letter from the Agency.

However, certain applications cannot be submitted to the UK Border Agency in an online form or by post: they must be submitted in person at the public enquiry offices in the UK. These public enquiry offices handle applications for extending your stay, also known as limited leave to remain, and applications for permanent settlement, known as indefinite leave to remain. The public enquiry offices also handle applications submitted by the applicant in person. This also means that you can hand in an application for another person only if you are the spouse, a close relative or the legal guardian to the applicant and you carry a letter of authorization signed by the applicant.

There are other types of applications that cannot be submitted in person. The offices do not handle applications for travel documents – they need to be sent by post.

The applications for the registration certificates for citizens from the European Economic Area can be submitted at the public enquiry office in Croydon.

Beside these activities, the UKBA provides assistance and up-to-date, accurate information in a number of other domains, like recent changes in immigration law or sponsoring students. The Agency is involved in helping reunite the families that asylum seekers have left behind when they came to the UK and offers custom and travel information for UK passport owners, residents and short-term visitors alike. The Agency is also one of the host government directorates for the forthcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games and is engaged in securing the safety of the Games. The UK Border Agency strives to deliver all these activities in a highly professional, collaborative and respectful manner.

It is not unlikely that, due to the efficiency of the Home Office, UK has become one of the top destinations for immigrants. The Home Office allocates plenty of time and resources to the problems concerning immigration. They support foreigners, regardless of their reasons for visiting – study, work, family matters, permanent settling, etc.

The UK Border Agency is the one in charge with matters of immigration and citizenship. There are over 250 centres in the world, where people can apply for UK visas. Even if they collaborate with different partners, who help them with tasks such as checking visa applications or charging the application fees, in the end, it is the UK Border Agency that makes a decision regarding the approval of the applications.

All immigrants should contact the Home Office, UK allowing them to do so by checking their official website or directly the website of the UK Border Agency.

Some of the most important matters that immigrants are interested in are getting British citizenship and registering to work in the UK.

British nationality is a complex matter that contains 6 aspects – citizenship being one of them. For a British national, there is no other way of obtaining a passport and staying in legality, other than getting citizenship. Although it is highly appealing for immigration, UK has some rules and laws that can put people into difficulty. Citizenship is not only the most important matter, but it is also one of the most controversial. Even if, through Home Office, UK provides full support to immigrants, there are still some matters that you may want to find out on your own, because they will surely prove very useful.

There are 2 ways in which one person can become a British citizen. Firstly, one becomes a British citizen by descendent. This approach raises no problems, as it is enough for someone to have parents that are British citizens. Still, the downside comes from the fact that one cannot pass this kind of citizenship on to one’s children.

The second way of becoming a citizen is to gain citizenship in your own right, which, fortunately, will allow you to pass the citizenship on to your children.

If you do not have British parents and cannot find any to adopt you, you can make your way to becoming a British citizen by 3 means: naturalization, marriage and immigration.

Naturalization only works for people that are at least 18 years old and have been living in the U.K., without getting out of the country, for 5 years. If you meet these 2 requirements, there are furthermore criteria that will make you eligible for becoming a British citizen. What you need to do is: speak English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic well, be a person of character and meet residential requirements. You should check all requirements with the Home Office – UK being known for demanding immigrants to learn about living inside the country and pass tests on this subject.

If you are married to a British citizen or a person living in the European Economic Area (EEA), you will be allowed to apply for naturalization after 3 years of living in the country. However, applicants will have to participate in interviewing sessions and prove that their marriage is genuine. Again, you should consult the homeoffice for further details.

Citizens of the EEA, along with their family members, are somehow seen as British citizens, because they benefit from the same rights.

Immigrants are not the only ones that should get in touch with the Home Office – UK also offers a chance to other British nationals who do not have citizenship to register as overseas citizens or protected persons.

Indisputably, there is a lot of responsibility that falls on the British Home Office – UK is extremely careful in protecting its borders, and, at the same time, it is also committed to offering immigrants all the help they can give.