Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many foreign and Commonwealth personnel from each country of origin who were made redundant from the armed forces in each year since 2010 were subsequently unable to meet the five-year rule to apply for citizenship; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

Foreign and Commonwealth personnel with four years service in the Armed Forces service can apply, in the interim, for settlement. This process regularises their immigration status while they qualify and meet the mandated Home Office criteria to apply for citizenship.

The Ministry of Defence has completed an analysis of personnel records and I can confirm that no Foreign and Commonwealth personnel with less than four years service were made redundant since 2010. Therefore redundancy from the Armed Forces would not have prevented personnel from applying for settlement or citizenship.