The high court has heard arguments that the fee charged by the government to register children as British citizens effectively removes their entitlement to that right
The British Nationality Act, 1981 ended birthright citizenship but makes provisions for children who are born or grow up in the UK to register as British citizens. The Home Office charges a £1,012 registration fee for such an application which costs just £372 to process. The excess funds are used by the Home Office elsewhere in the immigration system.
The case, brought on behalf of two children with the support of the Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (“PRCBC”) and Amnesty International UK, challenges the profit element of the fee in all cases and the lawfulness of charging a fee where a child cannot afford it. The judicial review claim asks the Home Office to reduce the fee so it is no more than the administrative cost, and to introduce a waiver for children who cannot afford it, and to provide an exemption for children in local authority care. The outcome of the case could affect tens of thousands of people in the UK.
The PRCBC claims the registration fee is unlawfully high and amounts to profiteering. The charity says many children who are entitled to citizenship because they were born in the UK and lived here for their first 10 years, are prevented from applying because of the cost. Solange Valdez-Symonds, the director of PRCBC, said there were dire consequences for those who could not afford to register including detention and removal of children and young persons.
Lisa Incledon, a volunteer for Amnesty International’s Children’s Human Rights Network, likened the situation to the Windrush scandal. She has remarked that citizenship is not a commodity but a right, and noted that it was indefensible to charge children who have a right to citizenship excessive amounts for the purpose of obtaining funds to support other sectors of the immigration system.
The Home Office has stated that it keeps all fees under review. Lawyers acting on its behalf have argued that the entitlement to British citizenship has always been conditional upon payment of a fee and is not an unconditional statutory right.
