§ Miss WiddecombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigrants have entered the United Kingdom and sought citizenship in each year since 1992. [61332]
§ Beverley Hughes[holding answer 13 June 2002]: The available information relates to the total number of people who have applied for British citizenship each year.
The table shows the total number of applications for British citizenship received for the period of January 1992 to December 2000 inclusive. This includes a handful of applications made outside the United Kingdom.
I regret that it is not possible to identify the year in which these people entered the United Kingdom as immigrants, but in order to qualify for British citizenship almost all applicants will have been residing in the United Kingdom for at least three years, and in many cases longer.
Information on citizenship is published annually in the statistical bulletin "Persons Granted British Citizenship", a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library and from the RDS website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds. 109W
Applications for British citizenship received in the United Kingdom, 1992–2000 Number of persons Applications received1 1992 38,070 1993 42,680 1994 48,275 1995 53,390 1996 61,800 1997 66–000 1998 68,030 1999 67,400 2000 262,475 1 Includes a handful of applications made outside the United Kingdom 2 Revised