UK Citizenship, should you bother?

[yasockie]

I had a nice chat yesterday with a guy from mainland EU - he's been working (paying NI etc) and living in the UK for 8 years now and he is well eligible to apply for citizenship.
What we discussed (over a pint of UK ale) is that he can't be bothered either way - sure there are problems in his home country and similar ones here, same ones really - economic worries, the rising cost of living, different cultures not mixing together that well, some crime, but it's roughly the same.
What are your thoughts on this, should we invite the lad or tell him to buggger off?

[stek]

UK Citizenship, should you bother?

I had a nice chat yesterday with a guy from mainland EU - he's been working (paying NI etc) and living in the UK for 8 years now and he is well eligible to apply for citizenship.
What we discussed (over a pint of UK ale) is that he can't be bothered either way - sure there are problems in his home country and similar ones here, same ones really - economic worries, the rising cost of living, different cultures not mixing together that well, some crime, but it's roughly the same.
What are your thoughts on this, should we invite the lad or tell him to buggger off?

If he is EU why would he bother?

[yasockie]

If he is EU why would he bother?

My question exactly, to stir up a conversation.

[DodgyAgent]

I had a nice chat yesterday with a guy from mainland EU - he's been working (paying NI etc) and living in the UK for 8 years now and he is well eligible to apply for citizenship.
What we discussed (over a pint of UK ale) is that he can't be bothered either way - sure there are problems in his home country and similar ones here, same ones really - economic worries, the rising cost of living, different cultures not mixing together that well, some crime, but it's roughly the same.
What are your thoughts on this, should we invite the lad or tell him to buggger off?

That old half full bottle eh?

[istvan]

That old half full bottle eh?

I'd tell him why bother (unless he is Romanian or Bulgarian ). Also, till David Cameron's EU Referendum by 2015 he has time to decide.

If he leaves the country in the future, he might need to pay taxes on his worldwide income. Due to double taxation it might be zero, but still another paper to file and worry about.

[formant]

"he's been working (paying NI etc) and living in the UK for 8 years now and he is well eligible to apply for citizenship."

Sounds like me (if I was male).

Yeah, I've been thinking about it. Done all my degrees here, only ever held proper (graduate) jobs in this country, got kid here now, getting married to a Cornish bloke in August and ditching the German last name. Even considering anglicising the spelling of my first and middle name by deed poll (cause they get misspelled all the time anyway). Have never had a German accent, as I've been speaking English most of my life and lived in a few English speaking countries as a teenager. I'd like a British passport. It would sort of complete things. And it would fit into all these pretty passport covers (German passports are slightly too big for those). But somehow, I just can't be arsed. It seems like an utterly pointless expense.
Maybe, someday....

[stek]

"he's been working (paying NI etc) and living in the UK for 8 years now and he is well eligible to apply for citizenship."

Sounds like me (if I was male).

Yeah, I've been thinking about it. Done all my degrees here, only ever held proper (graduate) jobs in this country, got kid here now, getting married to a Cornish bloke in August and ditching the German last name. Even considering anglicising the spelling of my first and middle name by deed poll (cause they get misspelled all the time anyway). Have never had a German accent, as I've been speaking English most of my life and lived in a few English speaking countries as a teenager. I'd like a British passport. It would sort of complete things. And it would fit into all these pretty passport covers (German passports are slightly too big for those). But somehow, I just can't be arsed. It seems like an utterly pointless expense.
Maybe, someday....

John McEnroe is German, born in Wiesbaden, you're not his sockie are you?

"The database archive logs were corrupt..."

"I DO NOT believe this, you are the PITS of Oracle....."

[cailin maith]

It's handy to have if you want to apply for roles that are closed to non UK nationals.

[scope]

Im in the same situation.. I've been here for over 17 years, but it does not make any difference what so ever if I got a UK passport. And as most countries don't allow dual citizenship I would lose my original passport, which is out of the question. My kids got dual citizenship, but I believe they will lose one of them when they reach the age of 18, unless we can convince them we've got ties to both countries.

[scope]

I'd tell him why bother (unless he is Romanian or Bulgarian ). Also, till David Cameron's EU Referendum by 2015 he has time to decide.

A Referendum wont change this, as UK would still be part of EEC, meaning anybody in EU can still live and work in UK on the same level as any UK/EU citizen.