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Nice one GoodBai, excellent quote and example if ever there was one

You people are dumb..... Arabs are not the sole proprietors of the Arab language, as such when I say Arabic speakers I do not just mean Arabs... God...

And arniegang, you can privide services in Swahili for all I care, in Canada and the US and Britain as well most countries, you need to speak one of the official local languages to get the passport.

Research before you speak.

nope incorrect Liban - speaking English is not a pre-requisite for UK nationallity. Shaf is quite correct, but the test he reffered too is/can be translated. For example those who seek and granted Asylum are exempt. Especially all the hoards of Lebanese seeking to live in our society and country.

Furthermore i only spoke for the situation in UK, i never referred to US or Can - my facts are therefore correct.

Arnie, is right. There's even a councillor in one place who's been there for about 8 years and in all that time speaks very little English, he has to have an interpreter, paid for of course by the tax payer - which is total rubbish.

Racial Decrimination happens everywhere but at varying levels.

The attitude of the citizens, mostly depends on their education and cultural background. As you can clearly see, almost all locals are from a culturally dry and illeterate backgroud. So, how can you expect them to treat other people compassionately?. Now a days, things are changing for the better. People are trying to educate their childern... but there is a limit for absortion. And as there is no challenge in front of them [at least at the moment - but they will and have to face the challenge in future], intelligence is not trigerred in their head.

Here we can see people who are next to illetrates handling jobs where education and expertise in the field of activity is a must. As a result, the standard of job done is drastically deteriorated. And almost in all companies, Human Resources Depts. are just for names' sake. No procedure or nothing. It seems that everything moves at mercy of GOD. May him help all to come out of their Ignorance.. May be in 1000 years... we will be able to see the spark of improvement... If human race survives till that time.

Shravan

Arniegang - up until November last year speaking English was indeed not a requisite for UK nationality. It now is a requisite - the test is in English, and for those who can't speak English well enough they can take a course on English as a second language which incorporates the elements of the test. Passing this course is an alternative to the test.

I only knew of this change because I was offered my job in November and I thought, blimey - better get round and get my wife her British citizenship (as she had been eligible for the past 6 or 7 years!). But alas the rules were changing at the end of November!

A couple of years ago, or so, they introduced the citizenship ceremonies where the new citizens swear allegiance or somthing before getting citizenship.

That said - your comments were totally correct a few months ago (I think it's a pandering to the concerns over immigration/asylum - both of which have been blown out of proportion)

Asylum is totally different - no language requisition is required, just need to show that one is in danger where they running away from.

Wasalaam,
Shafique

Blimey, they kept that quiet.

Shaf - Mrs Shaf speaks English, for the sake of £300 dont you feel its worth it??

I didnt know about the new rule into 3 monthhs ago, they are keeping that quiet then. I'm surprised the "PC" brigade hasn't cottoned on to that one

Arnie,

It wasn't the cost - it used to be only £150.

What kept us from applying was that I would have to send in my passport as well and then it would take 2 to 3 months to process. Each time we thought about it - there was either a holiday coming up or I had to travel on business, so it wasn't convenient to send the application in.

In November we decided to finally bite the bullet and only then discovered the new requirements! The exam needs to be taken first, and I could not answer some of the questions (and I'm not exactly ignorant of british history etc!). There is a book that needs to be studied about the British way of life, judicial and government systems.

There was a little bit about it in the press at the time - they published some of the questions and noted, as above, how difficult they were. I remember that one of the example questions asked what people from Newcastle were often called - the answer was 'Geordies', and another question was about which court did what , the answer was 'Magistrate court' (you see, I still don't know the question..!)

As it stands, my wife is studying the book but as there is still a 3 month waiting list after the application goes in, she won't be able to apply before we go to Dubai. And the perverse laws are that as she won't then be resident in the UK, she can't apply! (That said, she has a permanent visa in her passport so that the only time a British passport is of any use is when we are travelling to another country - eg UAE!)


Cheers,
Shafique

ps..another rant against the red-tape of the UK (although it's nothing compared to the stories I'm hearing of the UAE) - is the ridiculous charges they now have.

For example, my wife has permanent residence. Her passport expired and a new one was issued. Just to transfer the visa from the old passport to the new passport - practically it means printing a sticker and sticking it on the passport - they charge £150!!

Compare this against getting a Schengen visa for the continent - we send the passport to the German embassy, they send it back within 24 hrs, for free!

Grrrh

Shafique

Shaf

You aint seen nothing yet re red tape and paperwork.

Our systems compared to UAE is a breeze.

Yer and i agree with you re what a rip off. The passport agency now serioulsy into making money.

Shravan wrote:Racial Decrimination happens everywhere but at varying levels.

The attitude of the citizens, mostly depends on their education and cultural background. As you can clearly see, almost all locals are from a culturally dry and illeterate backgroud. So, how can you expect them to treat other people compassionately?. Now a days, things are changing for the better. People are trying to educate their childern... but there is a limit for absortion. And as there is no challenge in front of them [at least at the moment - but they will and have to face the challenge in future], intelligence is not trigerred in their head.

Here we can see people who are next to illetrates handling jobs where education and expertise in the field of activity is a must. As a result, the standard of job done is drastically deteriorated. And almost in all companies, Human Resources Depts. are just for names' sake. No procedure or nothing. It seems that everything moves at mercy of GOD. May him help all to come out of their Ignorance.. May be in 1000 years... we will be able to see the spark of improvement... If human race survives till that time.

Shravan

HAHAHA agree with u. I was in RAK briefly in summer. Nice beach and could have been improved. Do u work there?

By strange coincidence, the BBC are running a story today on the backlog of citizenship applications caused by a surge of applications before last November's changes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4706862.stm

There is also a link here to a version of the 'British' test - see how well you score

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4099770.stm

An example question (imagine my wife's expression when she saw this):

Life in the UK explains what to do if you spill someone's pint in the pub (we're not making this up). What, according to the book, usually happens next?

A: You would offer to buy the person another pint

B: You would offer to dry their wet shirt with your own

C: You may need to prepare for a fight in the car park


I like answer C myself!!:)

Oh, but seriously I only got 5 answers right:

You got 5 right!

0-5: Seat in Heathrow arrivals.... 6-10: Seat on the district council......11-13: Seat in Parliament.....14: Seat on the throne


Cheers,
Shafique

I got 8.....

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/ ... 2&x=26&y=7

Just came across this forum......................Im not a local................but................ever heard the saying

IF U DONT LIKE IT HERE GO BACK TO WHERE U CAME FROM.NOONE IS FORCING YOU TO STAY HERE!!!!"



Ah.............feels good I got that off my chest.......

Oh very clever - alright then, all the expats and cheap labour bugger off and watch the country grind to a halt!

Yeah well done, what a silly thing to say! Plus how do you ever expect the country to get better if no-one ever complains about the bad stuff?

eeeeeeekkkkkkkkk i got 12

i admit i guessed a few and didnt think i would score that well.

What a bunch of crappy questions - especially the one about the ration of brits to scotts and welsh. I mean what relevance that got to anything.

I got 7 right. I've only ever seen fights after drinks spillages.