Except in the cases of citizens of Malta and persons belonging to dependent territories where the nature of the proposed employment is immaterial provided that the vacancy is genuine, vouchers will be issued in respect of the following types of vacancy only:

(a) employment in manufacturing industry;

(b) other employment if the work is, in the opinion of the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, of substantial economic or social value to the United Kingdom;

(c) employment obtained through recruitment schemes operated by employers in co-operation with Commonwealth Governments or by Commonwealth Governments themselves and approved by the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity.

Except for Malta and dependent territories, applications in category A will be considered generally on a 'first come, first served' basis subject to the limitation that not more than 15 per cent of the vouchers available for category A will be issued to applicants from any one country.

Category B

Applications in this category will be entertained from people with the following qualifications or skills:

(a) doctors, dentists and trained nurses;

(b) teachers who are eligible for the status of qualified teacher in this country and possess a teacher training qualification acceptable to the Department of Education and Science;

(c) graduates in science or technology who are likely to be acceptable to employers here; and

(d) non-graduates with certain professional qualifications who have either a firm offer of a job or have had at least two years' experience in suitable employment since qualifying.

(Doctors who apply for vouchers and produce evidence that they have either obtained places in the Ministry of Health's attachment scheme or medical posts to come to will be given priority).

Application in category B must be made by the intending immigrant to the nearest British official representative overseas.

DEPENDANTS

Wives of Commonwealth citizens resident in the United Kingdom are entitled to admission for settlement provided that they hold a valid entry certificate issued for that purpose, and so are children under the age of sixteen if both parents are resident in the United Kingdom, or children coming to join a sole surviving parent. Such children must also be in possession of an entry certificate. Children aged 16 or 17 have no rights of admission to join parents but are nevertheless freely admitted under the same rules as children under 16. Children aged 18 or over are expected to qualify for admission in their own right, e.g. as voucher holders (though in very exceptional cases they may be admitted up to the age of 21 if they are unmarried and fully dependent on their parents and the rest of the family is coming to the United Kingdom). A widowed mother of any age, a widower over 65, or a married couple of whom either is over 65, will normally be admitted if their children are settled in the United Kingdom and

are able and willing to support and accommodate them. Other dependants of Commonwealth citizens resident in the United Kingdom may be admitted depending on the circumstances of the individual case. Entry certificates are required in all cases where a dependent seeks to settle in the United Kingdom.

STUDENTS AND VISITORS

Commonwealth students and visitors continue to be warmly welcomed but as there has been evasion of immigration controls by students and visitors staying on and taking employment, students are admitted for a period limited generally to a year in the first instance and visitors for a period of six months. The initial period for students is extended to cover the full period of their courses in all cases where it is clear that they genuinely intend to continue their studies. The period for visitors is also freely extended if good cause is shown. Applications for an extension of stay may be made to the Immigration and Nationality Division, Home Office, 271 High Holborn, London W.C.1.

ENTRY CERTIFICATES

The possession of an entry certificate is mandatory in the case of a Commonwealth citizen seeking entry on the grounds of being a dependant of a person already resident in the United Kingdom and for Commonwealth men seeking settlement on the sole ground of being the husband or fiancé of a woman resident in the United Kingdom. It is also available as a facility to all Commonwealth citizens on application at British Diplomatic Missions Overseas. Possession of an Entry Certificate facilitates entry into Britain and is a virtual guarantee that entry will be permitted .Although the Immigration Officer will presume the holder is qualified for admission, admission may be refused if the holder has obtained the entry certificate by misrepresentation, if his claim to admission has been removed by a change of circumstances or if the Immigration Officer discovers he should be refused admission on medical, criminal or security grounds or because he is subject to a deportation order.

AN APPEALS SYSTEM

In August 1967 the Committee on Immigration Appeals recommended that a system should be established to hear appeals against refusals of entry certificates and refusals of admission and also against deportation orders. The Government announced that this recommendation had been broadly accepted and that legislation would be introduced in due course to enable an appeals system to be set up.

The Immigration Appeals Act 1969 confers on Commonwealth citizens rights of appeal against decisions to exclude or deport them from the United Kingdom and against the refusal to issue an entry certificate or grant an extension of stay. It also enables provision to be made for conferring corresponding rights of appeal on aliens. The date on which the appeal system will be introduced has not yet been decided by the Secretary of State.

The Act also makes provision for the appointment by the Secretary of State of adjudicators, who will hear appeals in the first instance, and an Immigration Appeals Tribunal whose members will be appointed by the Lord Chancellor to consider appeals against the decisions of adjudicators. A special panel of Tribunal members will be constituted for the purpose of hearing appeals against decisions or actions taken in the interests of national security.

In advance of the introduction of a statutory appeals system, the Government has appointed a panel of independent lawyers to consider appeals from dependants who have been refused entry certificates.

GENERAL

Commonwealth citizens continue to receive more favourable treatment in general in Britain than aliens in that, for example, foreign workers remain subject to landing conditions for the first four years of their stay in Britain, and require permission to change their employment. Where time limits are imposed these are normally more favourable for Commonwealth citizens than for aliens. Aliens in Britain on a time limit of more than three months are normally required to register with the police at the end of their first three months. There is no power to require Commonwealth citizens to register with the police. Moreover Commonwealth citizens accepted for permanent residence in Britain enjoy full civic rights from the time they are admitted whereas aliens do not enjoy these unless they become naturalised.

T

COMMONWEALTH STUDENTS

IN BRITAIN 1968-69

HE information contained in this chapter has been provided by the British Council and the Association of Commonwealth Universities. Further information about overseas students in Britain may be obtained from the 1970 Commonwealth Universities Yearbook and from Overseas Students in Britain, 1967-68.

Table 1 gives a breakdown of all Commonwealth students in Britain, at universities and other institutions, by category of study*.

Table 2 gives figures relating to university students from other parts of the Commonwealth who were considered to be 'overseas students' in terms of the definition which is now being used for fees purposes. This definition, as set out by the University Grants Committee, is:

A. The following should not be regarded as overseas students:

(i) any student who has been ordinarily resident in the U.K. for at least three years immediately preceding the date his course is, or was, due to begin;

(ii) any student whose parents or one of them have been ordinarily resident in the U.K. for at least three years immediately preceding the date of his course is, or was, due to begin;

(iii) any student who would have been ordinarily resident in the U.K. for at least three years immediately preceding the date his course is, or was, due to begin had he or his parents or one of them not been employed for the time being outside the U.K.;

(iv) any student aged under 21 at the date his course is, or was, due to begin, if he and his parents or one of them have been ordinarily resident in the U.K. for at least one year immediately preceding that date;

University and technical college figures in this table are also given in terms of the definition now used for fee purposes. This breakdown covers the period 1967-1968 as complete fignres for 1968-1969 for Table I were not available at the time of going to press (November 1969.)

(v) any student who for at least one year immediately preceding the date his or her course is, or was, due to begin, has been (a) ordinarily resident (or on a full-time or sandwich course of higher education) in the U.K. and (b) married to a person who has been ordinarily resident in the U.K. for at least three years immediately preceding that date; or

(vi) any student whose parent or spouse is stationed in the U.K. and is recognised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a member of the staff of a diplomatic mission or as a career consular officer.

B. All other students should be regarded for the purpose of fees as overseas students for the duration of their course.