LONDON, Feb 7: The British government announced on Thursday toughening of the citizenship laws, and in the future people wanting to become UK citizens will have to undergo stringent tests to help them integrate into the wider community.

The announcement was made by the British Home Secretary David Blunkett who said: “Fraudulent marriages are a growing problem in our immigration system and forced marriages abuse the rights of women in this country. So we need to get tough — changing the rules and following up reports of abuse with enforcement action.”

The Home Secretary added: “Our changes will not penalise those in authentic relationships, but provide a longer period to test the genuineness of the marriage and increase the chance of exposing any marriages that are a sham.”

In the year 2000, more than 38,000 people were granted the UK citizenship through marriage. There has been a long tradition of families originating from countries like, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh wanting to bring spouses from arranged marriages to live with them in the UK.

Under the new plan, people wanting to become British citizens would have to have a working grasp of English and an understanding of British institutions. The measures also include toughening of asylum laws to discourage illegal immigrants.