Celebrities thinking they are instantly citizens!

Anyone else a bit annoyed by the story about Katy Perry thinking she can now apply for citizenship since she's married Russell Brand?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/1/20101107/ten-perry-s-joy-at-half-british-status-c60bd6d.html

Ha ha, I posted this on Facebook yesterday.  The funny thing is she's said in another interview that she doesn't want to live in the UK!  So how exactly does she think she's going to get citizenship?  People are just clueless!

I don't know of anything that would stop her from applying.  Married or not, she can apply any time she wants as long as she pays the fee.

If she doesn't qualify, she'll get a refusal; but for sure as creamed gravy she can apply.

To be fair she is a wealthy pop star and her input into filling out the paperwork will probably be to sign a few forms.  There's plenty of other rich non-famous people who come to the UK who don't know diddlysquat about immigration requirements, they just pay other people to sort it out for them.  I would have if I could have afforded it too.   

It just irked me though, cause it's misinfomation and confusion like that that makes people (like my family) think it's that simple.  That it doesn't take time, a helluva lot of money in fees, and agonising over having the right bits of paperwork to get to that point.

I agree, irks me some too, they make it sound oh so easy and it's bluddy not at all :|

Well after reading that, my best advice to her is to start flying into Manchester airport or perhaps another regional airport if she is so unhappy with the long lines! lol! Stupid girl.

Well after reading that, my best advice to her is to start flying into Manchester airport or perhaps another regional airport if she is so unhappy with the long lines! lol! Stupid girl.

I know!  Like she has to wait in the long queues anyway - I'm sure she probably gets ushered through some VIP gate. 

I agree, irks me some too, they make it sound oh so easy and it's bluddy not at all :|

Worse than that, they make it sound easy in interviews. The average reader is going to read that and not know any different, which further confirms the belief that anyone can immediately get citizenship just by getting married. That will influence public opinion, making many people think that it's too easy, which will in turn influence future government policy.

So no matter what they do to increase the difficulty, as long as people think that it's easy, and are (incorrectly) validated in their thinking by the media, it will continually be made more and more difficult.

Maybe we can get Katy Perry to make multiple public statements about how she just wants to come to the UK to be with her husband, but it will take years of visas, tests, ever-increasing fees, and ongoing stress before it's permanent.

Meh. Yeah, it's stupid but, tbh, I don't put a lot of credence in that article. I've pretty much lost all faith in celebrity media stories to actually be accurate. They seem to have a really interesting way of taking things out of context, mis-quoting, and in general getting the basics wrong.

Meh. Yeah, it's stupid but, tbh, I don't put a lot of credence in that article. I've pretty much lost all faith in celebrity media stories to actually be accurate. They seem to have a really interesting way of taking things out of context, mis-quoting, and in general getting the basics wrong.

Unfortunately, and sort of surprisingly (cos I guess I live in a bubble as far as what passes for common sense and critical reading skills), the majority of the public honestly believe most everything they read. It's sad, really.

She actually believes this or did believe this anyway.  She was on the One Show a month or so ago saying some pretty confused things about what marriage to a Brit entitled her to in terms of citizenship.

She actually believes this or did believe this anyway.  She was on the One Show a month or so ago saying some pretty confused things about what marriage to a Brit entitled her to in terms of citizenship.

Yeah, I think she's no more ignorant than the next person, she just, unfortunately, is the sort of person they interview and then publish about.  Really, she's not saying all that different than a lot of people when they first show up here at UK-Y! It doesn't really bother me, but I hope someone helps her out.