can be granted citizenship at the discretion of the Home Secretary, provided they meet various conditions relating to residence, good character, knowledge of the language, and intentions as to residence in the United Kingdom; these
include all foreign nationals and those Commonwealth citizens who do not qualify for citizenship as an entitlement. (There are special provisions for Pakistanis to be treated for a limited time as if they were still Commonwealth citizens when applying for citizenship). There is also provision for stateless persons connected with this country, and for certain
Irish citizens, and for certain people who have renounced
citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies to resume it. The Home Secretary has virtually unrestricted powers to register any minor child as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, at his discretion. The discussion that follows
does not cover all these various categories but concentrates on the areas where there are special problems.
Citizenship by virtue of marriage
50. As indicated above, under our present law, women who have at any time been married to citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies are entitled to acquire their husband's
citizenship, on application. But men married to women
citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies have no such
right to their wives' citizenship; they must apply in the usual way for registration or naturalisation.
51. This runs contrary to the Government's general policy
of ending discrimination between the sexes. But there is
considerable room for argument on how changes might be made.
Registration on these grounds under the present law gives a woman the right of entry to the United Kingdom, and to extend
the right to men in the same way would have inevitable repercussions on immigration; in particular the possibility that bogus marriages might thereby be encouraged cannot be ignored. It is of interest that some other countries which
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