The Home Office has today published its fee waiver form for children who cannot afford the £1,012 fee to be registered as British citizens. The form is to give effect to the fee waiver introduced from 16 June 2022.
The regulations that have introduced the fee waiver also provide an exemption from the fee for all children looked after by a local authority. PRCBC strongly encourages local authorities to take prompt action to secure the citizenship rights of all children in their care.
The regulations that introduced the fee waiver and the fee exemption were made on 26 May 2022. This was in response to rulings of the High Court and Court of Appeal in December 2019 and February 2021 respectively that the Home Office had failed to give effect to the best interests of children in setting the £1,012 registration fee.
Rights to registration as a British citizen affect many children born and growing up in the UK (see our leaflet).
For children who do not qualify for or are refused a registration fee waiver or are not looked after by a local authority, the registration fee of £1,012 will continue to apply. PRCBC continues to work with others to bring to an end the Home Office practice of setting fees for the registration of British citizenship rights at above the administrative cost of the registration process.
For more information on fee waiver and exemption, see our FAQs (June 2022) HERE and practitioners note HERE.
We will very shortly provide further updates and deliver seminars for lawyers and non-lawyers.