Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the unit cost to her Department is of processing an application for naturalisation; and what the fee charged is.

The Home Office publishes the fees charged and the estimated unit cost of processing immigration and nationality applications on GOV.UK. This can be reviewed via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-fees-transparency-data.

Fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under review. However, no assessment has been made of the potential merits of a reduced naturalisation fee for applicants’ resident in the UK for more than 20 years and there are no plans to carry out such an assessment in the future.

While some individuals may wish to apply to become a British citizen, it is not mandatory and many choose not to do so. This is because, in addition to lawful permanent residence in the UK, a person with Indefinite Leave to Remain is able to access to the UK labour market, state education and healthcare and the ability to sponsor family members’ residence in the UK.

There is no cost to the Home Office for providing citizenship ceremonies. Local Authorities provide and administer the ceremony, and the fee is payable to them. Overseas ceremonies are administered by Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) officials at the nearest embassy or High Commission. The ceremony fee covers that cost and is paid to FCDO once the ceremony has been conducted.