page_title: Recruitment in the British Army
section_title: Present Commonwealth & foreign recruitment
hierarchical_section_title: Recruitment in the British Army / Empire and Commonwealth / Present Commonwealth & foreign recruitment
caption_attribution_description: English: Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, VC.
context_page_description: The British Army came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland. The Army has traditionally relied on volunteer recruits, the only exceptions to this being during the latter part of the First World War until 1919, and then again during the Second World War when conscription was brought in during the war and stayed until 1960.
context_section_description: Until 1998 there were restrictions on the enlistment of Commonwealth citizens in the British Army. Commonwealth citizens could generally join if they had been resident in the United Kingdom for five years. In 1998 the restrictions were lifted, following recruiting difficulties among British citizens. Under the new provisions Commonwealth citizens were permitted to enlist directly in any one of the British services and significant numbers did so in subsequent years. 
  The Ministry of Defence later capped the number of recruits from Commonwealth countries at 10% of any corps or regiment in the Army, although this did not affect the Gurkhas. The cap was debated, as some feared the army's "Britishness" was being diluted, and employing too many could make the army seem as employing too many mercenaries.
  In 2008, Commonwealth origin volunteers comprised approximately 6.7% of the Army's total strength. In total, 6,600 foreign soldiers from 42 countries were represented in the Army, not including Gurkhas, i.e. Nepalis. After Nepal, the nation with most citizens in the British Army was Fiji, with 1,900, followed by Jamaica and Ghana with 600 each; soldiers also came from more prosperous countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. There are also volunteers from the Republic of Ireland – the level of recruitment among Irish nationals has been increasing, and figures for recruitment in Northern Ireland show that 16% came from south of the border during 2008.
  However, in 2013 the previous restraints were reintroduced with immediate effect, in the context of reduced establishment numbers. From July 2013, all Commonwealth citizens except for those from Ireland, Cyprus, and Malta must have resided for 5 years in the UK before being allowed to join. As of May 2016, commonwealth citizens can enlist in the British army in limited roles without meeting the residence requirements. On 5 November 2018 the Ministry of Defence once again removed the requirement of residing in the country for five years. This now meant that any citizen of the Commonwealth could join the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy as of 6 November 2018. However, the British Army will open applications early 2019.
caption: Johnson Beharry VC was born in Grenada
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