Akanksha Banerji, London: For all young women wanting British husbands, brush up your ABCs, and perhaps your Ps and Qs.

For now Britain wants foreign spouses to take an English language test before settling in the UK. This announcement came directly from the Prime Minister Gordon Brown just hours after his government unveiled its new proposal for citizenship.

This new proposal includes:

• A 3-stage route to citizenship, starting with a 5-year temporary resident status, then a minimum 1-year probationary period before becoming full-fledged citizens.
• A new tax for non-EU migrants to pay towards public services. This means that migrants with children or the elderly could be paying more
• Tougher English language testing.
• And finally, migrants will have to prove that they are contributing and 'integrating' into the British society. This includes charity or community work. But it’s not clear how or who will decide this.

The opposition parties have called the plans a 'gimmick' but there are those within labour who are also sceptical.

There are three aspects of the proposal that I am worried about. First of all, the double taxation for people to come to this country. That is not necessary.

Secondly, this will add another layer of bureaucracy to the most inefficient department, the home office. And finally, to get potential citizens to do good works…I am not sure what those are," Labour MP Keith Vaz says.

It’s believed that these norms will once again affect the non-EU migrants more adversely.

While most agree that fluency in English is a valid requirement for a British citizen, but it's proposals like longer probation and higher tax for non-EU immigrants that have raised questions on the fairness of the policy.