§ Mr. ChurchillTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many individuals of foreign nationality have been accepted into(a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force in each of the past five years other than citizens of the Kingdom of Nepal; and what steps he is taking to establish the British status of applicants before admitting them to the armed forces. [25826]
§ Mr. SoamesThe numbers of individuals of foreign nationality who have been accepted into the Army and the RAF are shown in the table. Figures for the Army are available only for the past three years. This information is not recorded centrally by the Royal Navy and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.626W
Intake into Regular Army: Officers and Soldiers Nationality 1993–94 1994–95 11995–96 Irish 48 40 44 Commonwealth 48 41 56 Other 3 1 6 1To end February.
Intake into Royal Air Force Nationality 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Commonwealth 10 6 4 3 2 10 Dual nationality (UK and other) 4 6 1 2 3 2 Other 5 2 1 1 1 0 The procedures for establishing the nationality of applicants varies for each service. In essence, however, an applicant and his/her parents must at all times since birth have been a Commonwealth citizen—British, British dependent territories, British subject under the British Nationality Act 1981, or citizen of a country which is, or then was, an independent Commonwealth country—or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland. A waiver of these requirements may be granted in exceptional circumstances. Additionally, applicants must have resided in the UK for more than five years. An applicant's birth certificate and passport are checked at the application stage and nationality is recorded on the application form. Nationality is recorded again on the security questionnaire when appropriate. Any applicant holding dual nationality is required to surrender his/her alien nationality.