Migrants to pay for citizenship

Migrants will have to learn English and pay to help the country cope with the cost of their arrival under new citizenship rules announced today.

Foreigners wanting a passport will be able to speed up their progress by carrying out voluntary work.

There will also be a new "probationary citizenship" category before migrants are allowed to become citizens and a six-year minimum period between entering Britain and gaining a passport, except for family members.

Other measures unveiled in the Immigration and Citizenship Bill state foreign nationals jailed for a year or more will be automatically barred from citizenship and deported, but there will be exceptions for juveniles, refugees and some EU citizens.

The reforms follow concern that passports have been handed out too easily.