British Citizenship Fee Waiver For Individuals Under 18

Individuals under the age of 18 can make British citizenship fee waiver applications if they are eligible to register as British citizens and can't afford fees. This guidance explains which applicants are eligible for a citizenship fee waiver and how to apply.

If you want to apply for a British citizenship fee waiver, contact our UK nationality & British citizenship lawyers for legal advice and eligibility assessment.

No matter where you live, our UK Immigration lawyers in Manchester provide British citizenship fee waiver applications related services throughout the UK.

Contents

1. Fee waiver for British citizenship
2. Citizenship fee waiver eligibility
3. Fee waiver application routes
4. How to apply for a citizenship fee waiver
5. Citizenship fee waiver application processing time
6. Lawyer fees for citizenship fee waiver application

Fee waiver for British citizenship

On 26th May 2022, the Home Office published a new policy "Citizenship fee waiver for individuals under 18". It allows applicants under the age of 18 who are eligible to register for British citizenship to have their applications fee waived if they cannot afford the Home Office British citizenship application fees.

There is no fee waiver for citizenship applications made by adults. 

Citizenship fee waiver eligibility

To make a successful citizenship fee waiver application, you must meet the following eligibility criteria.

The applicant and parent(s) must:

• credibly demonstrate that they cannot afford the fee;
• prove that their income is not sufficient to meet the child's needs.

The primary consideration on whether someone is eligible for a British citizenship fee waiver is an affordability test to assess whether the applicant and parent(s) have credibly demonstrated that they cannot afford the fee. This applies when the applicant and parent(s) do not have sufficient funds at their disposal, after meeting their essential living needs, to pay the fee.

Affordability test for a citizenship fee waiver 

An Affordability test is to assess the amount of income and savings available once accommodation and essential living needs for the applicant, parent(s) and any of their dependants have been met.

The total amount of resources available to the applicant and parent(s) must be considered, including any savings the individual(s) may have. This should be applied to the total amount required by the applicant and parent(s) to pay for the applicant's application.

Evidence

In completing the fee waiver request form, the applicant and parent(s) must provide details and supporting evidence for both their own financial circumstances and those of any individual on whom the applicant is dependent for financial support. It is the responsibility of the applicant and parent(s) to provide a full account as to their financial circumstances, and to demonstrate that those who are supporting them are reasonably unable to provide funding to support the payment of the fee. It is ultimately at the Home Office's discretion as to whether these considerations have been adequately demonstrated.

Fee waiver application routes

Anyone under the age of 18 who is eligible to register for citizenship under the provisions of the British Nationality Act 1981 may make a request for the relevant fee to be waived.

This guidance applies to the following types of applications:

• Form MN1: Registration of children under the age of 18;
• Form S2 and S3: Registration as a British citizen if you are a stateless person;
• Form T: Registration as a British citizen if you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983 and lived here until you were 10 years old;
• Form B(OS): Registration as a British citizen if you are a British Overseas citizen, British subject, British protected person, or British National (Overseas) and have no other citizenship or nationality;
• Form B(OTA): Registration as a British citizen if you are a British Overseas Territories citizen, a British Overseas citizen, a British protected person, a British subject or a British National (Overseas);
• Form EM: Registration as a British Citizen through residence in Hong Kong before 1997 (paper only).

How to apply for a citizenship fee waiver

You can apply for a British citizenship fee waiver online. You must provide all the supporting documents within 10 working days after the submission of the fee waiver application.

Normally, Home Office make a decision on a citizenship fee waiver application within 4 weeks.

If your fee waiver application is successful, you will be given a code. You'll need to enter this code when you make your application for British citizenship.

Citizenship fee waiver application processing time

The Home Office usually take 4 weeks to process a British citizenship fee waiver application however, some applications can take longer if further information is required. If you are granted a fee waiver, you will be given a code. You'll need to enter this code when you make your application for British citizenship.

Lawyer fees for citizenship fee waiver application

We charge a fixed fee starting from £600 for our professional legal services in relation to the British Citizenship fee waiver application. The agreed fixed fee will depend on the complexity of the matter and the casework involved in the matter.