UK Citizenship: 2 Groups of Children Can Apply Without £1,000 Fee

The UK government has identified two groups of children who may be able to apply for British citizenship without paying the standard £1,000 application fee.

The provision applies to children under 18 who are eligible to register as British citizens but cannot afford the fee, as well as children who are being looked after by a local authority.

The UK government says the standard fee for registering a child as a British citizen is £1,000, although eligible applicants can have the fee waived under specific circumstances.

The rules are particularly relevant to foreign families living in the UK whose children qualify for British citizenship but whose household finances make the application fee difficult to pay.

1. Children whose families cannot afford the fee

The first category covers children under 18 whose parents or guardians cannot afford the citizenship application fee.

The UK government allows eligible applicants to request a fee waiver where paying the fee would mean that the child could not meet their essential living needs.

The application for a fee waiver must be made before submitting the citizenship application.

According to the UK government’s guidance on child citizenship fee waivers, applicants need to provide information about the child’s circumstances and the family’s income, savings and essential expenditure.

The Home Office then considers whether the family can realistically afford the citizenship fee.

A fee waiver is not automatically granted simply because a family has a low income. The applicant must demonstrate that paying the fee would make it difficult to meet essential living costs.

What evidence is required?

Families applying for a fee waiver may need to provide evidence showing their financial circumstances.

The UK government says this can include information about income, benefits, savings, housing costs, bills and other essential expenditure.

The purpose is to establish whether the family has enough money available to pay the citizenship fee after meeting necessary living expenses.

Applicants should therefore keep relevant financial documents and supporting evidence before starting the fee-waiver process.

The government can request additional information where the evidence provided is insufficient.

2. Children being looked after by a local authority

The second category covers children who are being looked after by a local authority.

These children do not need to demonstrate that their families cannot afford the fee in the same way as applicants seeking a financial hardship waiver.

Instead, evidence showing that the child is being looked after by a local authority can be submitted with the citizenship application.

The UK government specifically includes children in local-authority care among those who can apply for citizenship without paying the standard registration fee.

This means the exemption is based on the child’s care status rather than a separate household affordability assessment.

The £1,000 citizenship fee

The standard fee for registering a child as a British citizen is currently £1,000.

The fee is separate from the citizenship ceremony fee that applies to adults who are required to attend a ceremony.

The UK government’s citizenship application fee guidance lists the current charges for nationality applications.

For families with more than one eligible child, the cost can therefore become substantial if every child has to pay the full registration fee.

The fee-waiver system provides a route for qualifying families to avoid that cost.

What happens after a fee waiver is approved?

A child whose fee waiver has been approved can then submit the citizenship application without paying the standard registration fee.

The UK government says applicants should not submit the citizenship application before receiving a decision on the fee waiver.

This is important because submitting the citizenship application first does not guarantee that the fee will subsequently be waived.

The applicant must follow the process set out by the Home Office and use the fee-waiver decision when making the citizenship application.

What if the child turns 18 while waiting?

The government has also provided for children who turn 18 while their fee-waiver request is being considered.

According to the official guidance, if the child was under 18 when the fee-waiver application was made, they can still benefit from the fee-waiver process if the relevant requirements are met.

This can be important because citizenship applications can take time to process, and a child could reach adulthood while waiting for a decision.

Who does not automatically qualify?

Having a foreign-born child living in the UK does not automatically mean the child can obtain British citizenship for free.

The child must first qualify for registration as a British citizen under one of the routes provided by British nationality law.

The fee waiver only addresses the cost of the application. It does not create a separate route to citizenship for children who are otherwise ineligible.

Parents and guardians should therefore establish that the child qualifies for British citizenship before relying on the fee-waiver procedure.

What parents should know

Families considering the fee waiver should first check whether the child qualifies for British citizenship.

If the child qualifies but the family cannot afford the £1,000 fee, the parent or guardian can apply for a fee waiver through the official process.

The government advises applicants to provide complete and accurate information about their financial circumstances because the decision is based on the evidence supplied.

Children being looked after by a local authority have a separate route and can provide evidence of their care status when submitting their citizenship application.

For eligible families, the rules mean that the £1,000 citizenship registration fee does not necessarily have to be paid.

However, the exemption depends on meeting the relevant conditions and following the correct application process.