English Proficiency For Immigrating Spouses Of UK Citizens

29 Jul 2010

UK immigration minister, Damian Green stated before the MPs that all migrants hailing from non-EU nations wanting to join either a non-EU national or a UK citizen will have to show their ability to speak English. He added that the rule aims to help new immigrants arriving as partners or spouses will take part in British culture and way of life. Also, having good English proficiency will help in getting new and high paying jobs.

As per earlier immigration rule, immigrants wanting to join their spouses in the UK and live there were supposed to submit proof of their marriage or union is true and genuine. The change in this rule has been going on since two years by UK Home Office and it will be introduced in the coming November.

In the meanwhile, there is growing concern among teachers and language testers that the UK government is showing too much emphasis on language tests before giving UK visas to non-EU migrants. They feel that failure to clear English language test might become a big hurdle in the way of numerous migrants wanting to join their UK spouses.

Other concern is with regards to the non-availability of many of the tests outside the UK. Also, several tests assess academic and business English of the candidates.