Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962


The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Background

Before the Act was passed, citizens of Commonwealth countries had extensive rights to migrate to the UK. For instance, in the sparsely populated frontier area of San Tin in Hong Kong, 85–90 percent of the able-bodied males left for the United Kingdom between 1955 and 1962 to work in British factories, foundries, railways, buses, hotels, and restaurants.
There was widespread opposition to immigration in Britain from a variety of political groups, including the Conservative Monday Club, whose Members of Parliament were very active and vocal in their opposition to mass immigration. In response to a perceived heavy influx of immigrants, the Conservative Party government tightened the regulations, permitting only those with government-issued employment vouchers, limited in number, to settle. The leader of the opposition in Parliament at the time, Hugh Gaitskell of the Labour Party, called the act "cruel and brutal anti-colour legislation".

The Act

The Act specified that all Commonwealth citizens, including citizens of the UK and Colonies, without a relevant connection to the UK were subject to immigration control. Commonwealth citizens who were born in the UK or who held a passport issued by the UK government in the UK or Ireland, CUKCs holding a passport issued by the UK Government anywhere, and family members included in their passports were immune from control. Exemptions applied to Commonwealth citizens who were ordinarily resident in the UK at any point from 1960 to 1962, as well as wives and children under 16 accompanying a family member resident in the UK.
The Act went into effect on 1 July 1962.

Aftermath

The Act was amended by the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 and was superseded by another new Act, Immigration Act 1971, which came into force in 1971.