ACCESS DENIED
By Rebecca Miller

St. Lucian born Rogers Jean Baptiste said that he was utterly astounded at the refusal of the British Home Office to grant him British citizenship following his four year service in the British army including two tours of Iraq.
According to reports Jean Baptiste was determined ineligible for citizenship because he had submitted his application on the wrong date due to the fact that he was not on British soil on the same date five years earlier. Reports further indicate that the application had been made on January 17, 2008 but ironically on January 17, 2003 the soldier was posted on an army base in Germany.
Jean Baptiste was reported as saying of his disappointment, “I felt insulted. I felt humiliated, I was gob smacked. If I had died in battle, the politicians would have told my family, “he was a hero,” but here I am , I’m alive, I’m trying to help myself and I am being turned down. That is blatant hypocrisy.”
The fact that he volunteered for a second tour of duty and after four years left the service with an “EXEMPLARY” certificate does not make a difference. Neither does he score points toward his citizenship application having served as a community police officer in Britain.
However, the Home Office claims that it is not entirely inflexible for according to an official from that department; Mr. Jean has been granted indefinite permission to remain and work in the United Kingdom until he is eligible to apply again for citizenship in 2011.

For his part, the former Lance Corporal who now works with the Metropolitan Police 2011 may be a long time to wait while he has to stay within the confines of Great Britain. He has reportedly voiced the concern that he is unable to travel outside of the United Kingdom without a British passport.
Information with Immigration law as it relates to Nationality Status for British soldiers: “Foreign and Commonwealth citizens enlisting into the British Army are exempt from immigration control under section 8 (4) (a) of the Immigration Act 1971. F&C soldiers may apply for naturalization as British citizens whilst in the HM Forces; although time spent in the UK whilst exempt under section 8(4) (a) does not count automatically towards the 5 year (3 years if married to a British citizen) qualifying residence period. The Home Office may exercise the discretion available in the 1981 Act to count time spent whilst exempt as qualifying for residence in certain cases. This would normally apply if individual applicants have been discharged in the UK after an application for naturalization has been made and they have been granted indefinite leave to remain. Alternatively if they are still serving in the UK and the Home Office would be willing to grant indefinite leave to remain but for them to still be exempt, the same discretion might apply. Soldiers holding some form of British nationality other than British citizenship may not need to apply for naturalization. Instead, they may have an entitlement to be registered as British citizens on the same basis of 5 years residence. For the purposes of this registration entitlement, time spent in the UK whilst exempt from immigration control is automatically counted as qualifying residence.”
Apparently, the laws pertaining to obtaining British citizenship as a commonwealth or foreign soldier in the British army is based on personage rather than participation and undoubtedly explains Jean Baptiste’s indignation.
Reportedly he said, “This is a slap in the face. It’s a waste of my time and everything I fought for. It’s a betrayal.”