In societies where solidarity and cohesion are experienced primarily via shared national identity, immigration raises questions regarding how non-nationals can gain social membership, so that they are not perceived as undermining solidarity and cohesion. A key aspect of immigrants’ experiences is thus whether they embrace the national identity of the destination country. Governments in many destination countries increasingly seek to ensure that they do, via policy initiatives that impose specific requirements for gaining legal citizenship: applicants for naturalization are commonly required to pass a test (ensuring sufficient knowledge of e.g. ‘life in the UK’) and attend a ceremony that includes a pledge of loyalty. This paper considers whether the British version of these requirements is effective in leading immigrants to embrace British national identity. It uses data drawn from the UK household panel survey (‘Understanding Society’) to facilitate a comparison between those immigrants who become citizens and those who do not. The main finding is that those who become citizens significantly increase their attachment to British identity. Whether they do so specifically because of the policy requirements (the test and ceremony) is debatable, but it seems clear that these requirements do not inhibit development of a sense of Britishness among the immigrants who meet them.

在主要通过共同的国民身份来实现团结与凝聚力的社会中，移民提出了一个问题，即非国民如何获得社会成员身份，以使他们不会被视为破坏团结与凝聚力。因此，移民经验的一个关键方面是他们是否接受目的地国的国籍。许多目的地国家/地区的政府越来越多地寻求通过对获得合法公民资格提出具体要求的政策措施来确保这样做：入籍申请者通常需要通过测试（确保对例如“英国的生活”有足够的了解）并参加包含忠诚承诺的仪式。本文考虑了这些要求的英式版本是否有效地促使移民接受了英国的民族身份。它使用从英国家庭面板调查（“了解社会”）获得的数据来促进在成为公民的移民与未成为公民的移民之间进行比较。主要发现是，那些成为公民的人大大增加了他们对英国身份的依恋。他们是否由于政策要求（考试和典礼）而特别地这样做是否值得商,，但显然这些要求并不妨碍满足他们的移民对英国意识的发展。主要发现是，成为公民的那些人大大增加了他们对英国身份的依恋。他们是否由于政策要求（考试和典礼）而特别地这样做是否值得商,，但显然这些要求并不妨碍满足他们的移民对英国意识的发展。主要发现是，那些成为公民的人大大增加了他们对英国身份的依恋。他们是否由于政策要求（考试和仪式）而特别地这样做是否值得商,，但显然这些要求并不妨碍满足他们的移民对英国意识的发展。