CYP Now - Campaigners welcome decision to scrap citizenship fees for vulnerable children

A children’s rights charity has welcomed news that the Home Office is to waive its child citizenship fee for families that cannot afford it and to offer an exemption for all children in care.

Campaigners claim the government has profited from high cost of citizenship fees for children. Image: Adobestock

Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC) said the move followed a long campaign it and other organisations had run, calling for the high cost of application fees for children wanting to be British citizens to be addressed.

Groups such as Amnesty International have accused the government of profiting from families that are asked to pay a £1,012 fee per child, of which they claim nearly £600 profit is made by the Home Office.

The CCLC says it works with many children that are by law entitled to UK citizenship but are being prohibited from applying due to the high costs involved.

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