Armed Forces: Foreigners living abroad invited to join

Foreigners living abroad will be allowed to join Britain’s Armed Forces, the government is set to announce.

Currently, citizens from Commonwealth countries can only join if they have lived in the UK for five years.

But in a bid to recruit more servicemen and women to the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Ministry of Defence is lifting this rule.

The Armed Forces is short of 8,200 soldiers, sailors and air personnel, a report found earlier this year.

It is the worst shortage since 2010, said the independent government watchdog, the National Audit Office.

Cap on foreigners lifted

Ministers are expected to announce the change to recruitment rules on Monday.

It means people from Commonwealth countries – including India, Australia, Kenya, Fiji and Sri Lanka – will be considered for roles, even if they have never lived in Britain.

The government already allows 200 Commonwealth citizens who have not met the requirement of living in the UK for five years to apply for a limited number of jobs every year. They introduced the rule in 2016.

Now, that cap of 200 will be lifted.

It is hoped the changes will recruit an extra 1,350 people every year.

According to the Daily Telegraph, which first published details of the plan in Monday’s paper, the Air Force and Navy will begin recruiting immediately and the Army will open applications early next year.

Applications from citizens of countries outside the Commonwealth will not be accepted, the paper adds. Citizens of Ireland and also Gurkhas from Nepal can already join because of special rules.

Recruitment crisis

April’s National Audit Office report also said there were “much larger shortfalls” in the number of engineers, pilots and intelligence analysts.

It said the Armed Forces were involved in 25 operations worldwide in 2016/17 – and the Air Force is undertaking more missions than it has for a quarter of a century.

And a Conservative MP’s report in July 2017 on the state of Army recruitment warned that the Armed Forces were “hollowing out” due to recruitment issues.

Mark Francois, who spent a year meeting with MoD officials as well as military personnel, said there was a “perfect storm” of high employment rates and an ageing population with fewer people of military age.

An increase in obesity and also a rising proportion of black, Asian and minority ethnic people – who he said have until now been less likely to apply for military service – are also factors, he added.

He made many recommendations – including attracting more black, Asian and minority ethnic recruits and women.

Last month, it was announced that women were now allowed to apply for all role in the British military for the first time in history.

In the government’s Budget, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced an extra £1bn of defence spending. BBC