WHEREAS Talossa's immigration process has proven to need reformation, and
WHEREAS granting prospective citizens a deeper form of participation in Talossan life than currently available to them, while giving them more time to integrate before being faced with the obligations of citizenship, should help them to feel better acclimated to Talossan society upon their naturalization, and
WHEREAS decentralizing control over the immigration process ought to help lessen concerns over the exercise of the Immigration Ministry's powers, then
BE IT RESOLVED by the Ziu that the following changes be made to El Lexhatx:
- Title D, Section 2.3 of El Lexhatx, which currently reads:
Quote2.3 The Immigration Minister, who shall oversee the immigrant and new citizen experience. This includes the following responsibilities:
2.3.1 Administering the immigration process in cooperation with the Chancery as described by law
2.3.2 Working with the Ministry of STUFF to increase immigration
2.3.3 Integrating new citizens into their new Talossan lives and working to find ways to most effectively involve new citizens in Talossan affairs.
shall be replaced in its entirety with: Quote2.3 The Immigration Minister, who shall oversee the immigrant and new citizen experience. This includes the following responsibilities:
2.3.1. Administering the immigration process in cooperation with the Chancery as described by law.
2.3.2. Working with the Ministry of Propaganda to increase immigration.
2.3.3. Integrating new citizens into their new Talossan lives and working to find ways to most effectively involve new citizens in Talossan affairs.
2.3.4. Chairing the Comità del Veitariçaziun (Naturalization Committee, CV); the CV shall assist the Minister in the evaluation of citizenship applications and provide recommendations to the Chancery for the issuance of grants of citizenship.
2.3.4.1. The CV shall be composed of at least two Clarqeux dal Inmigraziun (Immigration Clerks), who shall be considered for the purposes of law to be staff of the Immigration Ministry. The Immigration Minister serves as an Immigration Clerk ex officio.
2.3.4.2. As soon as is practical after the conclusion of each General Election, the Immigration Minister shall review the composition of the CV, calling for new volunteers and dismissing inactive Clerks. Any Talossan with the right to vote in national elections shall be eligible to serve as a Clerk.
2.3.4.3. Additionally, during review, the incoming Leader of the Opposition shall be explicitly asked if they wish to recommend one Clerk.
2.3.4.4. The Immigration Minister may appoint an Acting Chair for the CV to exercise the Minister's authority over the CV in their place; the Acting Chair serves at the Minister's discretion.
2.3.4.5. The Minister may direct the work of the CV, including but not limited to assigning Clerks to review particular citizenship applications and issuing recommendations and guidelines that shall direct the work of the CV in a legally non-binding fashion.
- Title E, Section 2.1, which currently reads:
QuoteThe Minister of Immigration shall ascertain to their own satisfaction that the prospective immigrant is a real human being with genuine interest in becoming a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa. The Minister shall be free to inquire of the applicant on any and every subject, and shall be required to collect the legal name or name used in daily life, postal address (optional if the applicant is under 18 years of age, except for information needed to assign the applicant to a province), telephone number, and e-mail address(es) of the candidate, which information the Minister shall communicate to the Secretary of State. The applicant shall affirm or swear, under penalty of perjury and under the provisions of Lexh.A.16.1., that this information is accurate, and shall provide documentary evidence of the same if the Minister thinks it appropriate.
shall be amended by deletion of the text "telephone number, ". - Title E, Section 3, which currently reads:
QuoteThe Minister of Immigration, working with the Seneschal and the responsible authorities for administering Wittenberg, shall cause the prospective immigrant to be granted an account on Wittenberg, allowing said prospective immigrant to converse with the subjects of the Kingdom gathered there. The Immigration Minister shall verify that the said account is fully-enabled, and that the candidate is able to communicate using this forum with the citizens of the Kingdom. The Immigration Minister shall then begin a single thread on Wittenberg introducing the prospective immigrant to the nation. The "Why I am Interested in Becoming a Talossan" essay shall be published by the Immigration Minister in this introduction. The Immigration Minister is further directed to remind his fellow citizens from time to time that the initiation of new citizens into Talossa is a serious matter and that questioning a prospective citizen is a patriotic obligation of all who love their King and Country.
shall be replaced, without modifying subsections thereof, with:QuoteThe Minister of Immigration, with the approval of at least one other Immigration Clerk regarding the authenticity of the application, and working with the Seneschal and the responsible authorities for administering Wittenberg, shall cause the prospective immigrant to be granted an account on Wittenberg, allowing said prospective immigrant to converse with the subjects of the Kingdom gathered there. The Immigration Minister shall verify that the said account is fully-enabled to view all Wittenberg fora open to citizens except the private citizens' discussion board, and that the candidate is able to communicate using this forum with the citizens of the Kingdom. The Immigration Minister shall then begin a single thread on Wittenberg introducing the prospective immigrant to the nation. The Immigration Minister is further directed to remind his fellow citizens from time to time that the initiation of new citizens into Talossa is a serious matter and that questioning a prospective citizen is a patriotic obligation of all who love their King and Country.
- Title E, Section 4, which currently reads:
QuoteAn examination period shall begin with the prospective citizen's first posting to Wittenberg after an introduction by the Immigration Minister. At any time at least fifteen days after the beginning of the examination period, any current citizen of Talossa may petition the Secretary of State requesting that a Royal Grant of Citizenship be issued to the prospective citizen. If no such petition is laid before the Secretary of State within the first sixty days of the examination period, the examination period shall end, the immigration process for the prospective citizen shall be terminated, and their Wittenberg account shall be disabled. In addition, if a prospective citizen fails to ever make a first posting to Wittenberg within thirty days of their introduction by the Immigration Minister then the immigration process for the prospective citizen shall be terminated, and his Wittenberg account shall be disabled. Furthermore, whenever an immigration process is terminated then the Immigration Minister shall notify the nation and the prospective citizen of the termination, and shall post a notification to the effect on Wittenberg.
shall be amended by the replacement of the word "fifteen" with the word "thirty". - Title E, Section 5, which currently reads:
QuoteIf, at any point during the process, either before or after creation of the Wittenberg account, the Immigration Minister determines that the prospective immigrant shall not be considered further, the prospective immigrant shall be informed of this decision, and shall be made aware that a Grant of Citizenship may yet be obtained by the disappointed applicant if an act of the Ziu be passed directing that such a grant be issued. Any account created for the applicant on Wittenberg shall then be terminated.
shall be replaced, without modifying subsections thereof, with:QuoteIf, at any point during the process, either before or after creation of the Wittenberg account, at least two Immigration Clerks determine that the prospective immigrant shall not be considered further, the prospective immigrant shall be informed of this decision, and shall be made aware that a Grant of Citizenship may yet be obtained by the disappointed applicant if an act of the Ziu be passed directing that such a grant be issued. Any account created for the applicant on Wittenberg shall then be terminated.
- Title E, Section 7, which currently reads:
QuoteThe Secretary of State shall, on a date of his choosing, but within a period of ten days after receiving a petition from at least two citizens, neither of whom shall be the Minister of Immigration or anyone to whom they have delegated their powers, to issue a Grant of Citizenship as described in clause 4, and determine the provincial assignment of the prospective immigrant and issue a Royal Grant of Citizenship to the immigrant. This Grant shall be issued under the Royal Seal, either as applied by the Chancery, or, should the Majesty request, by the Sovereign under his or her own hand. If requested by the Government, the Grant may also bear the signatures of the Seneschal and/or Immigration Minister. The Royal Grant shall be promptly issued coincident with the candidate affirming his fealty to the Royal House and his allegiance to the Kingdom by taking any Oath of Talossan Citizenship specified by law. At the time this Royal Grant is issued, and from that point forward, the applicant shall be a full citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa. The fact of the issuance of this Grant shall be posted on Wittenberg by the Secretary of State, that the new citizen may be welcomed by his compatriots. Any and all objections raised to the immigration made after this Royal Grant will be moot.
shall be replaced, without modifying subsections thereof, with:QuoteThe Secretary of State shall, on a date of his choosing, but within a period of ten days after receiving a petition from at least two citizens, neither of whom shall be the Minister of Immigration or anyone to whom they have delegated their powers, and at least one of which must be an Immigration Clerk, to issue a Grant of Citizenship as described in clause 4, and determine the provincial assignment of the prospective immigrant and issue a Royal Grant of Citizenship to the immigrant. This Grant shall be issued under the Royal Seal, either as applied by the Chancery, or, should the Crown request, by the Sovereign under his or her own hand. If requested by the Government, the Grant may also bear the signatures of the Seneschal and/or Immigration Minister. The Royal Grant shall be promptly issued coincident with the candidate affirming his fealty to the Royal House and his allegiance to the Kingdom by taking any Oath of Talossan Citizenship specified by law. At the time this Royal Grant is issued, and from that point forward, the applicant shall be a full citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa. The fact of the issuance of this Grant shall be posted on Wittenberg by the Secretary of State, that the new citizen may be welcomed by his compatriots. Any and all objections raised to the immigration made after this Royal Grant will be moot.
- Title E, Section 8 shall be amended by addition of the following bolded text:
QuoteAt any time before a Grant of Citizenship is conferred, the Sovereign, or members representing at least one-third of the Cosă by seats, or members representing at least one-third of the Senäts, or any two Immigration Clerks,, or any single Judge of the Uppermost Cort may petition the Chancery that the said Grant of Citizenship shall not be issued until such issuance shall be ordered by an act of the Ziu. The Secretary of State shall be required to grant all such petitions, and shall withhold any issuance of a Royal Grant of Citizenship to the prospective immigrant who is the subject of such a petition until such time as an act of the Ziu directing the issuance of such a grant becomes law.
I know this is a long bill, bear with me.
The basic summary is that it takes Sir Luc's committee approach to replacing the CRL -- which I must admit I'm rather a fan of -- and applies it to immigration. Opens up the process and makes it a little more transparent, in part by giving the Opposition a (minority) seat at the table. A committee of at least three people, one of whom is the Immigration Minister, and one other is nominated by the Leader of the Opposition. (One big difference is that unlike the OCZ, this committee is not part of the Civil Service, but remains within the Immigration Ministry.)
It also lengthens the amount of time between first getting a Witt account and being able to have someone petition for you, which I will grant you might seem counterintuitive to "keeping up interest", but it also mandates that more areas of Witt are open to prospectives than are currently so, which gives them a better look at what's going on in the country. The process from the prospective's point of view does not require anything additional other than more time; since most prospectives that lose interest seem to do so very quickly, I'm not sure that actually makes as big of a difference as it might seem at first glance. I know we've talked about staggering the process out a bit more to avoid making new citizens feel like they're just adrift once they get citizenship, so this is a suggestion of how we try to do that.
This is all very much a draft, to be clear. I'm just trying to get some kind of concrete proposal in place.
I appreciate the thought and care behind this bill! It is drafted with great exactness. I also appreciate your openness to feedback. I think there's some merit here, but I'd also like to hear more about some aspects.
A couple of immediate notes:
- A lot of this bill isn't strictly necessary, if the Government wants to try this. The MinImm could establish a Comità del Veitariçaziun today. Indeed, whatever happens to the bill and regardless of what the peanut gallery thinks, the Government should probably do this immediately if they feel it's a good idea.
- This bill seems like it would establish a third category of ministers, called staff, who are neither deputies nor permanent secretaries. This doesn't seem like a good idea, and I'd suggest incorporating this into the existing system instead, if possible.
- While I think I understand the rationale for expanding the petition time, it also seems like it's going to be frustrating for eager new immigrants to wait a full month to start participating. Is this the best way to stop people from feeling adrift once they migrate? This is the change that is most likely to have the biggest impact.
- The part I don't feel like I understand the rationale for is the need for the clerks and so on. Can you speak to why you think this is better than just the minister being transparent in public about the process? As I understand it, if the minister processes every application and announces when they're declining to do so, then we're already maximally transparent (short of automating the process and taking the human element out, which would be a mistake). What's the advantage of a new bureaucracy here?