Government urged to scrap 'unlawful' £1,000 citizenship fee for children after High Court ruling
Fiona Simpson
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Campaigners have called on the government to scrap a £1,012 charge issued to children before they register as British citizens after it was ruled unlawful by the High Court.
The court found a “mass of evidence” showing that the fee prevents many children from registering for British citizenship.
This leaves them feeling “alienated, excluded, ‘second-best’, insecure and not fully assimilated into the culture and social fabric of the UK, ” Mr Justice Jay said.
Delivering the ruling, he said the Home Office "failed to have regard to the best interests" of children affected.
Young people currently face a £1,012 registration fee before they can formally become British citizens.
Applications cost the Home Office £372 with the additional £640 used to subsidise the immigration system.
Campaigners have accused the government of “shameless profiteering” over the fee which was increased from £973 to the current rate of £1,102 in April 2018.
Solange Valdez-Symonds, co-founder of campaign group the Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (PRCBC) which brought the case on behalf of two children, called for an end to "the use of this fee to raise revenue for the Home Office".
Enver Soloman, chief executive of charity Just for Kids Law, said "any government review must ensure it addresses prohibitive fees for all children".
"We welcome the ruling that Home Office fees for children to register as British Citizens is unlawful," he says.
"The government must now urgently reconsider the fee fully taking into account the child’s best interests as directed by the court.
"Many other children still face prohibitive costs to regularise their immigration status – over £2,000 in some cases – and any government review must ensure it addresses prohibitive fees for all children."
The case was brought on behalf of two children by PRCBC, supported by Amnesty International.
The children, known only as A and O, aged three and 12, were both born in the UK.
Responding to the judgment, O, who has lived in the UK her entire life and gave a witness statement to the court, said: “I am glad I got to tell the court my story.
“I was born in this country and have lived here all my life. I feel as British as any of my friends and it’s not right that I am excluded from citizenship by a huge fee.
“I want to be able to do all the things my friends can. I don’t want to have to worry they will find out I don’t have a British passport and think that means I am not the same as them.”
Valdez-Symonds said: “It is significant that the court has recognised British citizenship is the right of these and thousands of children and that the consequences of blocking their registration rights is alienating and harmful.
“For too long, children and their citizenship rights have not been respected. That must change. The government should make an immediate start by ending the use of this fee to raise revenue for the Home Office.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “We note the court's judgment and will consider its implications carefully."
The judge gave the Home Office permission to appeal against his ruling.
