Mr. Whiteasked the Home Secretary whether he will make a statement as to the position of Austrian refugees and other refugees who made application for naturalisation before the outbreak of war; and whether these application are still under consideration?
§ Sir J. AndersonAs the hon. Member knows, an applicant for naturalisation must have had at least five years residence. There are large numbers of applications at present before the Department, and in present circumstances it is very difficult to devote time to the necessary inquiries in respect of such applications. I am at present considering what is the best method of dealing with these applications, but the number of cases which can be taken up in the near future will be comparatively few.