Citizenship fee for Children

The current Home Office fee for registering children as British citizens is £1012.

Numerous children meet the requirements to register as British either through entitlement through birth in the UK and one of their parents becomes settled, or they were born in the UK and have lived the first ten years of their life in the UK. There are also those who can apply to register by discretion because taking into account certain criteria it is appropriate for the Home Office to grant citizenship.

In many cases, this extortionate fee is preventing them from submitting the application to register.       

The question has arisen as to whether this mandatory fee paid at the submission of the application is lawful.

In the recent case of R (on the application of Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens and others), v Secretary of State for the Home Department https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2019/3536.html  the appellants’ first ground was rejected. This ground was that the fee was set so high that the entitlements under the Act were in effect nugatory. The second ground was accepted that in setting the fee at this level the Home Office had failed to discharge their duty under s.55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 in that the Home Office had not considered the best interests of the child in the setting of the fee.

As a result of these findings, the Home Office should proceed to review the fee with the best interests of the children in mind. Their new assessment could result in a reduction of fee (or fee waiver option) or the conclusion that the current fee is valid.

It is understood that the appellants are attempting to challenge the decision from the above case at the UK Supreme Court since it is the appellants’ case that the fee is in itself unlawful. Similarly, permission has been granted to the Home Office to appeal the current decision to the Court of Appeal.  

In summary, the current fee of £1012 remains in place at this time. It is possible that there is a reduction of fee cost in future, but this is yet to be realised and will likely depend on the outcome of any future appeal and the Home Office review.

If you require any advice or assistance with an application to register a child as a British citizen please contact a member of the Immigration Department.