Local MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) is winning parliamentary support for her opposition to sky-high UK citizenship fees for children who are born here.
So far 35 MPs have backed her amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill that would end child citizenship fees for children born in the UK.
It currently costs £1,214 to register a child as a British citizen – among the highest fees in Europe.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy’s amendment would ensure citizenship for children born in the UK whose parents were not British citizens or did not have settled status at the time of their child’s birth and waive registration fees.
It has drawn support from Labour, Lib Dem, Green, SDLP, Plaid Cymru and independent MPs.
Between 85,000 and 215,000 children are entitled to British citizenship but end up undocumented because of barriers barriers like the child registration fee.
Many have British birth certificates or have lived here most of their lives and have the right to be citizens.
The charge is greater than the Home Office’s administrative costs in dealing with the application.
Freedom of information requests from Citizens UK revealed that the Home Office made a £102,749,216 profit on these fees between 2017 and 2020.
The last government introduced a waiver on this fee for children in state care and families facing hardship.
However, parliamentary questions tabled by Bell Ribeiro-Addy earlier this year revealed that, in the third quarter of 2024, the Home Office received 25,630 applications for a fee waiver. Of these, 6,083 were accepted and 5,928 were rejected. The remaining applications were still awaiting a response. The reasons for rejection have not been collated.
“Many children have the right to British citizenship but still end up missing out because their families don’t have the funds to pay the sky-high fee,” said Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
“We are talking about kids who have lived here for their entire lives, including many with British birth certificates, or children of EU nationals.
“These children are excluded from equal participation in the country they call home— the only country many have known.
“Like the Windrush Generation, many end up facing barriers in later life, subject to immigration rules that were never intended for them.
“They may experience difficulties accessing student finance, renting a home, or travelling.
“These children are as British as me. It’s time to end this anomaly, waive the fee and ensure no child is priced out of citizenship in the country they call home.”
