§ Mr. David Steelasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the position of patrials awaiting entry certificates to the United Kingdom;
(2) if he is satisfied with the workings of the Immigration Act 1971, in view of recent decisions in the law courts;
(3) if he is satisfied with the definition of patrial in the Immigration Act 1971.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonInstructions have been given to ensure that applications for entry clearances by dependants identified as patrial who seek to come here for settlement are processed with minimal delay.
We intend to discard the concept of patriality following the current review of our nationality law and to define the right of entry into the United Kingdom by reference to citizenship. Meanwhile, we are keeping the operation of the 1971 Act under constant review and, after the law of citizenship has been amended, it will be replaced by a new immigration law.